Skip to main content

Full text of "Antient metaphysics: or, The science of universals.."

See other formats 


1 


g,i!j;.'^mg-mg.''jg^. 


-  •  '■■  ->-■ »-^ 


Ex  Libris 

C.  OGDEN    1 


Pctcrhorongh. 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


A    N    T    I    E    N    T 

METAPHYSICS. 

VOLUME  FOURTH. 

* 

CONTAINING  THE 

HISTORY    OF    MAN, 


WITH    AN 

APPENDIX, 

RELATIXG  TO  THE 

F  I  L   L  E     S  A  U  V  A  G  E 

WHOM  THE 

AUTHOR   SAW   IN   FRANCE. 


EDINBURGH: 

?RI><TED  FOR  BELL  AND  BRADfUTE;   AND  T.  CADELL,  IN  THE  STRAND,  LONDON, 

M,DgC,SCY. 


v,4 

C     0 

T3D  W  A  Ptr 

N 

T 

E    N    ' 

INTRODUCTION 

B 

0     0 

K      I. 

The 

Hiftoiy 

of  Man, 

T    S. 

Page  t. 


CHAP.      I. 

Of  the  difficulty  of  defining  Afa;i, — This  difficulty  arifes  from  its  being  ncceffary  to  de- 
fine what  he  is  by  Nature. — Ariftotle  the  only  author  who    has  defined  Man His 

definition  explained,  and  the  full  definition  given  tranflated  into  Englifh. — All  the 
operations  of  the  Human  Mind,  the  animal  as  well  as  the  intelleftual,  proceed  from 
Comparifon. — The  wonderful  chain  of  things  in  Nature,  to  be  feen  in  the  progreft 
of  the  Human  Mind. — ^Tliis  definition  of  man  not  intelligible  to  thofe  who  have  flu- 
died  only  the  Philofophy  of  Mr  Locke. — The   author's  apology  for  pretending  to 

teach  a  better  philofophy  than  any  that  has   been  invented  in  modern  times. The 

propriety  of  defining  Man  by  his  comparitive  faculty  and  the  capacity  of  intelleft  and 
fciencc. — Nothing  faid  of  the  Body  of  Man  in  the  definition  ; — nor  has  Ariftotle  any 
where  clfe  faid  that  he  is  by  nature  ereft. — The  contrary  is  now  found  to  be  the  cafe. 
— The  fafls  by  which  this  is  proved. — The  wonderful  progrefs  of  Man,  from  a  qua- 
druped to  fuch  an  animal  as  he  now  is. — Of  the  world  of  art  which,  he  has  created, 
— and  made  sll  the  Powers  of  Nature  fubfervient  to  him.  p.  j  i 

CHAP.       II. 

Of  the  feveral  fteps  of  the  human  progreffion  from  the  Brute  to  the  Man.— The  Author 
has  feen  three  ftages  of  that  progreffion  ;—;;fr/?,  Peter  the  Wild  BoY;—/econd/y,  The 
Ourang  Outang,  of  whom  the  Author  has  difcovered  fome  fafls,  fince  he  publiihed 
upon  the  fubjea  -.—thirdly.  The  Wild  Girl  in  France.— She  was  an  amphibious  ani- 
mal.— Several  particulars  concerniHg  her  mentioned.  p.  2C 

C    ^     A    P.       III. 

The  firft  ftep  that  men  made,  in  their  progrefs  to  civilization,  was  to  learn  the  ufe  of 
their  own  body-^r/?,  By  ereaing  themfelvcsj  then  by  learning  the  ufe  of  their 

*  2  bands ; 


CONTENTS. 

hands ;  and,  lajllyy  to  fwlm. — Swimming  not  natural  to  man  ;  but  his  acquiiitions  In 
that  .way  wonderful. — Till  man  learned  the  ufe  of  his  own  body,  he  could  not  pro- 
vide fufEciently  for  liis  fubfiftence. — At  firft  he  lived  upon  the  natural  fruits  of  the 
earth. — Thefe  failing,  he  took  to  hunting  and  fifliing,  being  able  to  live  upon  any 
kind  of  food. — But  only  agriculture  could  furnilh  fubfiftence  for  numbers  of  men, 
living  together  in  clofe  communication. — Before  fuch  an  art  could  be  invented  and 
peaftifed,  language  was  neceflary.  Page  35 

CHAP.      IV. 

Of  the  habitation  of  man  in  the  natural  ftatc. — It  was  in  caves,  which  nature  furnilhed, 
or  which  he  dug  out  of  the  rocks. — ^This  proved  by  the  authority  of  antient  authors 
— and  monuments  flill  eiifting. — INIan  as  various  in  the  form  of  his  body,  as  in  any 
thing  elfe. — Of  men  with  tails. — Of  Satyrs,  with  feet  of  goats,  and  with  horns  upon 
their  heads. — ^This  proved  by  the  teftimony  of  St.  Jfronie. — Of  men  without  heads, 
but  with  eyes  in  their  breafts ; — and  of  men  with  only  one  eye  in  their  forehead. — 
Thefe  fafts  attefted  by  St.  Augujlinc. — Of  men  with  the  heads  of  dogs — proved  by 
the  teftimony  of  feveral  authors. — Of  the  Sphynx. — The  exiftence  of  fuch  an  animal 
only  attefted  by  Agartharchides. — This  author  had  a  very  good  opportunity  of  being 
informed. — His  work  is  extant,  and  bears  no  mark  of  fable  or  romance. — No  proof 
that  fuch  animals  did  never  exift,  that  they  are  not  now  to  be  found. — Reafon  why 
they[fliould  have  ceafed  to  exift. — The  wonderful  variety  of  the  outward  form  of  man, 
as  well  as  of  his  inward  form. — Of  the  variety  of  the  fize  of  men  in  different  ages 
and  different  nations  of  the  world. — The  civilized  life  makes  a  great  difference  in  this 
refpeft. — But  there  is  a  difference  alfp  in  the  natural  ftate. — This  proved  by  the  ex- 
ample of  the  Ourang  Outang,  P-  43 

C    H     A    P.       V. 

Of  the  character  of  man  in  his  natural  ftate. — Not  known  what  his  character  was  in  the 
firft  ftage  of  that  ftate,  when  he  was  a  quadruped  ; — but  from  what  we  know  of  the 
Ourang  Outang,  man  in  the  fecond  ftage  of  his  progreffion,  is  a  fbcial,  friendly  ani- 
mal, and  capable  of  intellect  and  fcience. — To  judge  of  a  man  in  the  civilifed  ftate, 
after  ke  has  got  the  ufe  of  language,  a  diftindtion  is  to  be  made  betwixt  thofe  who 
live  by  hunting,  and  thofe  who  fubfift  upon  the  fruits  of  the  earth. — The  inhabitants 
of  the  Pelew  Iflands  a  fpecimen  of  what  men  are  in  the  firft  ftate  of  civilifation,  and 
before  they  are  hunters. — The  wrong  conftru<ftion  given  by  fome  men  to  the  behavi- 
our of  the  inhabitants  of  the  Pelew  Iflands  towards  us. — The  behaviour  of  the  New 
Zealanders  as  noble  and  generous  as  that  of  the  Pelew  men. — A  remarkable  inftance 
of  their  behaviour  given.  p.  54 

CHAP. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAP.   VI. 


Of  the  progrefs  of  man  from  a  natural  flate,  to  a  ftate  of  civility  and  arts.— Such  a  pro- 
grefs  abfolutelv  neceflary.— The  firft  ftep  of  this  progrefs  was  living  in  herds.— Of 
the  motives  which  induced  men  to  live  in  that  way — Animals  divided,  by  Ariftotle, 
into  gregarious  and  not  gregarious  ;— and  into  political  and  not  political.— INIan  of 
the  mixed  kind— both  gregarious  and  folitary ;  political  and  not  political- Man  not 

induced  to  aflbciate  by  inftinft,  or  any  particular  attachment  to  his  fpecies nroved 

that  he  has  no  fuch  attachment. — It  was  therefore  neceffity  or  convenience  that  made 
him  aflbciate. — This  the  cafe  of  the  Ourang  Outang.— Men  in  that  ftate  lived  like 
brutes,  though  they  were  both  gregarious  and  political.— Examples  of  other  animals 
living  in  that  way — That  way  of  living  far  removed  from  a  ftate  of  civility  and  arts. 
— Language  abfolutely  neceflary  to  form  fuch  a  ftate.— Man  muft  have  formed  ideas 
before  he  can  have  the  ufe  of  fpeech.— Language  a  wonderful  art,  but  the  formation 
of  ideas  more  wonderful — The  formation  of  ideas  our  firft  ftep  from  the  mere  ani- 
mal life. — Tills  is  a  moft  diflicult  ftep,  being  from  nature,  where  all  things  are  mix- 
ed with  all. — The  progrefs  of  ideas,  from  the  loweft  fpecies  to  the  higheft  genius 

We  difcover  differences  of  things,  and  divide  as  well  as  unite. — Of  the  Categories,  by 

which  the  whole  things  in  the  Univerfe  are  reduced  to   certain  clafles. This   the 

greateft  difcovcry  of  philofophy  that  ever  was  made.— But  the  human  mind  goes  be- 
jond  the  Categories,  and  difcovcrs  what  contams  the  Categories,  and  every  thing  m 
the  Univerfe.— This  progrefs  moft  wonderful,  from  what  is  loweft  in  nature  to  what 
is  higheft.— Language  neceflary  for  that  progrefs.— Therefore  it  is  the  parent  art  of 
all  arts  and  fciences.  Page  6 

CHAP.       VII. 

Of  the  progrefs  of  the  human  mind  from  ideas  to  Science.— Ideas  the  materials  only  of 
Science.— They  muft  be  put  together  in  order  to  make  fcience.— This  done  by  pro- 
pofitions.— All  propofitions  confift  of  a  praedicate  and  a  iubjeft.— The  praedicate  the 
more  general  idea,  containing  ihc  fubjea  being  the  lefs  general  idea.— Of  the  maimer 
in  which  one  idea  contains  another;— and  how  the  more  general  idea  contains  and  is 
contained  in  the  lefs  general.— This  explained  by  the  diftinclioq  betwixt  containing 
potentially  and  aaually.—TWis  diftinftion  fliewn  to  apply  to  all  propoiltions,  whether 
praedicating  the  genius  of  the  fpecies,  or  the  accident  of  the  fubftance.-^Propofitions 
alone  not  fit  for  fcience.— There  muft  be  that  comparifon  of  propofitions,  which  we 
call  Reafoni„g.—W)\cTt  the  connedion  betwixt  the  two  Terras  of  the  propofition  is 
not  evident,  it  muft  be  made  fo  by  other  propofitions.— This  cannot  go  on  in  inf,,,. 
turn,  but  muft  flop  at  felf-evident  propofitions.— Of  the  procefs  of  reafoning  from 

thefe 


CONTENTS. 

thefe  propofitlons,  and  of  the  coUefllon  of  propofitlons  into  Syllogifni.— Of  the  won- 
derful hivention  of  the  Syllogifm,  and  of  the  whole  logical  works  of  Ariftotle.— Syl- 
logiftn  alone  not  fufficient  for  Science. — ^There  muft  be  alfo  Definition.— Of  the  na- 
ture of  Definition. — The  terms  of  propofitions  may  confift  of  feveral  ideas,  exprefled 
by  feveral  words. — ^This  illuftrated  by  the  example  of  the  firfi:  axiom  of  Euclid. — 
Definitions,  therefore,  as  well  as  Axioms,  necelll\ry  for  Science. — Of  the  utility  of* 
Logic,  and  the  neceffity  that  a  man,  who  pretends  to  be  learned  in  any  fcience, 
Ihould  know  what  fcience  is. — Opinion  among  men,  prior  to  fcience  or  demonftration. 
— All  men,  when  they  firft  begin  to  think,  form  Opinions, — and  moft  men  never 
go  farther.  Polybius's  definition  of  Man,  that  he  is  an  opinion-forming  animal. — 
This  not  fo  good  a  definition  as  Ariftotle's. — Ariftotle  gives  a  fyflem  of  reafoning 
from  Popular  Opinions,  which  he  calls  Dialeftics ;  and  with  this,  and  his  treatife 
De  Sophi/licis  Elenchis,  he  concludes  his  great  work  of  Logic. — Summary  of  this 
work.  Page  7 1 

CHAP.      VIIL 

Of  the  neceffity  of  arts  and  of  fciences  and  a  regular  polity  among  Men. — "Without 
thefe,  men  cannot  be  happy  though  aflbciated  ;  and  in  certain  circumftances  may  be 
moft  miferable. — This  proved  by  the  example  of  the  people   of  Paraguay  in  South 

America. Of  the  two  Authors,  Charlevoix  and  Muratori,  who  give  us  the  hiftory 

of  this  people. — ^The  laft  may  be  thought  the  more  credible  hiftorian  ;  but  Charle- 
voix's Narrative  well  vouched. — The  country  of  Paraguay  of  prodigious  extent. — 
The  inhabitants  of  it  living  under  no  government,  not  even  the  family  government, 
except  in  time  of  war -, — the  moft  favage  and  brutal  people  we  read  of; — no  faith  or 
honerty  among  them,  nor  fenfe  of  the  Pukhrum  and  Honejium; — addi<fted  to  the  ufe 
of  ftrong  liquors,  which  made  them  ftill  more  barbarous ; — very  dull  and  fhipid 
when  the  Jefuits  came  among  them,  but  capable  of  being  taught ; — more  difeafed 
than  any  civilifed  people. — This  accounted  for. — Example  of  other  men  who  have 
lived  in  a  brutifh  manner,  but  not  fo  brutifh  as  the  Paraguaife  before  they  were  ci- 
vilifed.— Of  the  hardftiips  and  dangers  the  Jefuits  went  through  in  civilifing  them. 
— Had  the  greateft  difficulty  to  get  at  feveral  of  thefe  nations,  through  defarts  and 
forefts. — Had  their  languages  to  learn  •, — and  their  Sorcerers  and  Magicians  to  en- 
counter.— Their  greateft  obftacle  was  their  apprehenfion  of  the  Spaniards  making 
Slaves  of  them  when  they  were  Chriftians. — Of  the  martyrdom  the  Jefuits  fuffered, 
to  the  number  of  30. — Of  the  oppofition  they  met  with  from  the  Spanifli  noblemen 
who  governed  the  commaderles. — Notwithftanding  all  thefe  obftacles,  the  Jefuits  in 
the  beginning  of  this  century  had  eftablilhed  30  Miffions. — ^The  greateft  order  and 
good  governnient  in  all  Uiofe  mifiions. — The  Jefuits  did  not  chufe  that  the  number 

in 


CONTENTS. 

in  any  of  their  mlffions  flioulJ  exceed  6,000,  as  they  thought  great  numbers  could 
not  be  well  governed; — ^were  very  attentive  to  the  education  of  the  youth,  teaching 
them  all  the  ufeful  arts  of  life. — Nothing  the  Savages  learnt  fo  well  as  mufic, — learn- 
ed the  ufe  of  arms,  and  performed  great  aftions  both  againft  the  Indians  and  Portu- 
guefe; — not  deferted  by  the  Jefuits  when  in  the  field Oppofition  given  to  the  arm- 
ing them  with  fire  arms.— Of  the  divifion  of  property  among  them.— No  money  al- 
lowed among  them.— Were  made  moft  zealous  Chriftians. — Became  Apoftles  them- 
felves,  and  fuffered  martyrdom. — An  account  of  their  happy  ftate,  given  in  a  letter 
by  the  Governor  -of  Paraguay  to  the  King. — The  love  they  bore  to  their  teachers, 
and  their  teachers  to  them.— Of  the  methods  by  which  the  reformation  was  brought 
about —  \Ji,  By  Religion  : — The  Indians  tamed  and  civilifed  by  the  Jefuits,  in  the 
fame  manner  as  the  Greeks  were  by  Orpheus. — zdl^.  By  Mufic,  in  the  way  that 
Amphion  civilifed  the  Greeks:- The  Jefuits  may  alfo  be  compared  to  Prometheus. 
— 3?/c,  By  Government  the  Indians  were  civilifed. — Without   government   Man  an 

imperfect  animal. — Obfervations  upon  the   Men  of  Paraguay  in  their  wild  fi:ate. 

The  fiate  of  civilization  and  government  abfolutely  neceilary  to  make  men  live  in  an 
orderly  way. — The  Paraguaife  wanting  thefe,  and  having  the  ufe  of  ftrong  liquors, 
the  wildeft  people  that  we  have  ever  heard  of — No  fenfe  in  them  of  the  Pulckrum 
and  Honejiim,  which  cannot  be  but  where  there  is  government. — Of  the  difeafes  to 
which  they  are  liable ;  and  the  rer.fbns  why  they  are  fo  much  difeafed. — Of  the  dif- 
ference betwixt  them  and  the  inhabitants  of  the  Pelew  Iflands,  and  the  New   Zea- 

landers. — Of  the  methods  ufed  by  the  Jefuits  to  civilife  them;  and  Crft  Religion. 

This  natural  to  man. — All  men  who  have  the  leafi:  ufe  of  reafon,  muft  be  convinced 
tliat  beings  fupcrior  to  man  exifi: — Thefe  beings  they  will  obey It  was  not  by  teach- 
ing only  that  the  Jefuits  made  Chriliians  of  the  Indians,  but  by  a  worfliip  of  pomp 
and  fhow. — Of  their  proccfljons  and  triumphal  Arches. — A  particular  dcfcription 

of  them. — Mufic,  a  great  part  of  the  Religion,  to  which  the  Indians  were  converted. 

■Of  the  natural  power  of  Mufic  over  man  ;  without  it  the  Savages  of  Paragisay  could 
not  have  been  converted.— The  laft  method  the  Jefuits  ufed,  was  the  efiablifhment 
of  a  good  Government  ?.mong  them.— This  was  a  Religious  Government. — The  beft 
GoverniTient  in  Antient  times,  fuch  as  the  Heroic  Government  in  Greece,  was  con- 
nected with  Religion.— The  ftory  of  the  civilifation  of  thefe  Savages,  a  renewal  of 
the  Hiftory  of  Antient  times. — ^To  be  confidered,  whether  Religion  be  not  as  necef- 
fiiry  for  contiiiuing  good  Government  among  men,  as  for  introducing  it. — Of  the 
difpcrnon  of  the  Jefuits  ; — a  great  blow  to  learning; — compared  to  the  difperfion  of 
the  Pythagorean  Colleges  in  Magna  Graecia. — Of  the  noviciate  of  15  years,  the  Je- 
fuits went  through  before  they  were  admitted  into  the  order ; — were  not  only  taught 
themfelves  but  tcached  others ; — after  they  were  admitted,  they  were  difpofed  of  by 
the  fuperior  of  the  order  according  to  their  d;fl\;rent  geniufes. — Not  kno\vn  what  is 

become 


CONTENTS. 

become  of  the  Mifllons  in  Paraguay  after  the  diflblution  of  the  order  of  Jefuits. 

Their  parting  with  their  Difciplcs  moft  forrowful. — If  they  had  not  chofen  to  leave 
them,  the  power  of  Spain  could  not  have  forced  them. — Might  have  eftablifhed  ma- 
ny more  IMiffions, — and  made  a  new  Empire^  and  a  new  World  of  Learning  in  that 
Countr)'.  Pagg  g^ 

BOOK       IL 


Of  the  Invention  of  Arts  and  Sciences. 
CHAP.      I. 

The  fubje£t  of  this  book  is  the  invention  of  Arts  and  Sciences,  beginning  with  the  Art 
of  Language — Language  not  natural  to  Man,  but  an  Art.— Men  herded,  and  carri- 
ed on  fome  common  bufinefs  before  they  Spoke.— Language  began  with  animal  cries, 
varied  perhaps  by  fome  articulation,  in  imitation  of  certain  Birds  ;— varied  alfo  by 
Mufical  Tones.— By  fuch  a  Language  no  progrefs  could  have  been  made  in  Arts  and 
Sciences.— The  Chinefe  Language  not  6t  for  Arts  or  Sciences : — ^Thefe,  therefore, 
among  them  all,  put  into  hieroglyphical  writing  even  their  law  bufineG.— A  Language 
of  Art  neceflary  for  the  invention  of  Arts  and  Sciences — This  the  moft  difficult  of 
all  Arts — Proof  of  this  -.—Firjl  as  to  articulation. — This  performed  by  the  organs 
of  the  mouth  operating  varioufly. — The  firfl:  organ  of  fpeech  that  appears  to  have 
been  chiefly  ufed,  is  the  throat. — By  this  guttural  founds  are  produced,  fuch  as  the 
Ourang  Outang  ufes,  the  "Wild  Girl  that  was  feen  in  France,  and  the  Huron  in  North 
America.— Articulate  founds  divided  into  vowels  and  confonants. — The  nature  of 
tlicfe  explained. — The  vowels  few  in  number,  the  confonants  many. — The  confo- 
nants much  mjre  difficult  in  pronunciation  than  the  vowels. — Differences  from  thence 

accounted  for,  betwixt  the  barbarous  and  civilifed  Languages Another  difference 

betwl.\t  the  barbarous  and  civilifed  Languages,  is  the  extraordinary  length  of  the 
words  of  the  barbarous  Languages :— This  accounted  for.- Of  the  origin  of  articula- 
tion.—It  could  not  have  been  brought  to  any  perfection,  but  in  a  country  where  it 
was  ftudied  and  praaifed  as  an  Art.— Of  the  progrefs  of  articulation  from  monofyl- 
labical  words  to  words  of  feveral  fyllables.— Of  the  variety  in  the  found  of  Language 
by  diphthongs;— and  by  vowels  and  confonants,  afpirated  and  not  afpirated— Lan- 
guage muft  have  been  analifed  into  its  elemental  founds,  before  the  found  of  it  could 
be  made  fo  perfeft.- Of  the  melody  and  rhythm  of  Language.— Of  the  expreffion  of 
ideas  by  Language.— Thefe  of  number  infinite  ;— but  divided  into  certain  claffes  or 
parts  of  fpeech.— I'his  divifion  correfpondent  to  the  divifion  of  our  ideas  into  Catego- 
ries. 


CONTENTS. 

Ties. — The  number  of  words  appear  to  be  infinite ; — made  comprelienfible  in  our 
memories,  by  the  three  great  Arts  of  Language,  Derivation,  Compoiition,  and  Flec- 
tion.— Of  Syntax,  and  the  neceffity  of  it. — Conclufion,  that  Language  is  the  oreat- 

Cft  of  all  Arts.— Objeaion  arifwered.  That  children  learn  to  fpeak  without  Art. 

Speech,  though  a  moft  common  ihing,  is  very  wonderful : — An  account  given  how 
it  is  learned;— of  fo  diffimlt  invention,  that  it  would  have  been  a  miracle,  if  Peter 
the  Wild  Boy  had  fpoken  when  he  was  firft  caught,  or  if  the  Ourang  Outang  could 
fpeak. — Ocjedion  anfwered,  to  the  Ourang  Outang's  being  a  Man,  That  he  is  the 
only  Man,  that  has  been  found,  who  could  not  fpeak. — General  obfervations  upon 
the  invention  of  Language.  Pase  1 04 

CHAP.      IL 

The  Queftion  here  to  be  conlldered,  is.  In  what  country  or  countries  was  a  Language 
of  Art  mveiited  ? — Language  not  invented  by  every  Nation  that  fpeaks  it. —  This 
proved  by  the  examples  of  the  Goths,  the  Laplanders,  and  the  Greenlanders.— As 
Language  is  the  mofi  Antient  Art  among  Men,  it  mufb  have  been  Invented  by  a  very 
Antient  Civilii'ed  Nation. — Men  muft  have  been  alibciated,  and  hved  upon  the  natu- 
ral fruits  of  the  Earth,  before  Language  or  any  other  Art  could  have  been  invented. 

A  regular  Polity  neceflary  for  that  purpofe,  and  a  clafs  of  Men  fet  apart  for  it. 

Laftly,  Genius«nd  Natural  Parts  required — The  EgT,-ptian  Nation,  is  that  in  which 
all  the  requilites  above  mentioned  for  the  invention  cf  ArtSj  concur,  p.  128 

C    H    A    P.      in. 

The  Egyptian  nation  undoubtedly  a  verj-  antient  civilifed  nation  — None  can  pretend  to 
be  fo  antient,  except  the  Indian. — A  regular  Government  among  the   Egyptians  in 

the  moft  antient  times. — ^This   attefted  by  Mofes No  other  regular   Government 

then  known. — Of  the  wonderful  number  of  K.;ngs  there  according  to  Herodotus  and 
Diodorus  biculu;.,  iroru  JSkncs  the  hrlt  human  King,  down  to  Amahs.  — Of  the  num- 
ber of  years  theie  Kings  reignt:d. — The  antient  hiftory  of  E^ypt  a  matter  of  curofity, 
as  well  as  the  an  lent  hitlory  of  Greece — liotti  to  be  conlldered  as  part  of  the  hif- 
tory of  Man. — The  fecond  thing  required,  of  a  country  where  language  was  to  be  in- 
vented,  is  that  it  ihould  be  abunu.uit  of  the  natural  fruits  of  the  earth.— This  the 
cafe  of  Egypt. — The  third  thing  rt-quired,  is  a  regular  government  fitted  for  the  in- 
Tention  and  cuhivation  of  arts.— This  alfo  in  Egypt.— The  /.;/?  thing  required,  in  a 
country  fit  for  the  invention  of  language,  is  that  the  people  fhould  have  good  natural 
parts. — ^This  alfo  the  cafe  of  the  Egyptians,  as  is  proved  by  the  aiathority  of  facred 
and  profane  writers.  P.  n2 

Vol.  IV.  b  C  H  A  P, 


CONTENTS, 


CHAP.      IV. 


Of  the  necdEty  of  Arts  being  invented  in  Egypt — Other  Arts  mentioned  as  invented 
in  Egypt,  befides  the  Art  of  Language. — And,  firft  Agriculture,  by  which  only  Men 
could  fubfift  in  the  fame  place  in  coniiderable  numbers,  and  fo  have  a  clofe  commu- 
nication  together. — Before  tliis  Art  was  invented,  the  Egyptians  ate  one  another  j 
_and  fo  did  the  Greeks. — ^This  Art  came  from  Egypt  to  other  Countries,  and  parti- 
cularly to  Attica,r— The  Art  alfo  of  making  Drink,  as  well  as  Food,  for  Men,  in- 

_-.  vented  in  Egj'pt,  viz.  the  Art  of  Fermentationy  by  which  both.  Wine  and  Ale  are  pro- 
dyced.  Page  137 

CHAP.      V. 

Of'the  invention  of  Clothes ^Thefe  not  neceflary  in  the  Natural  Life.— The  firft 

clothing  among  Men  were  Skins. — ^The  country  of  Egypt  maintaining  fo  many  Men, 
could  not  likewife  maintain  fo  many  Beafts  as  were  neceflary  for  furnifliing  Skins  to 
Cloth  fo  many  People. — ^Therefore  Clothing  by  Linen  invented; — alfo  by  Cloth  made 
of  Wool , — for  both  thefe  Clothings,  the  Arts  of  Spinning  and  Weaving  were  necef- 
fary.— The  ufe  of  Linen  went  from  Egypt  to  few  countries. — ^To  the  Eg)-ptians  there- 
fore we  owe  not  only  our  Bread,  our  Wine,  and  our  Beer,  but  mtr  Clothes. — The 
Egyptians  muft  have  difcovered  the  ufe  of  Fire  for  the  practice  of  thofe  Arts. — This 
difcovery  no:  made  by  all  nations  in  the  firft  ages  of  Civility. — Of  the  Art  of  Build- 
in"  invented  in  Egypt : — Metallurgy  ni^ceflary  for  the  practice  of  that  Art. — The  E- 
gyptians  made  the  fubjeft  of  their  Art,  not  only  every  thing  on  the  earth,  and  in  the 
air  and  water,  but  what  was  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth. — The  way  that  Men  were  fup- 
plied  with  inftruments  of  peircing  hard  fubftances,  before  the  invention  of  JNIetals. — 
Divifion  of  Time  into  certain  portions  neceflary  in  Civilifed  Life. — The  firft  divifion 
of  time  into  Days,  that  is,  the  interval  from  one  rifing  of  the  Sun  to  his  riling  again. 

_|j  —The  next  portion  of  Time,  obferved  by  Men,  was  from  one  new  Moon  to  another, 
called  from  thence  a  Month. — This  the  only  divillon  of  Time  known  to  barbyrous 
naj-ions. — The  Solar  Year  firft  difcovered  in  Egypt. — That  year,  as  firit  ufed  by  the 

,  . .  Greeks,  and  Romany,  very  irregular. — The  Romans  got  the  irregularity  of  their  year 
corrected  from  Egypt. — What  was  wanting  to  make  that  correftion  perfeflly  cccu- 
rate,  fupplied  by  Pope  Gregory  XlI.~Oi  the  divifion  of  time  into  Weeks. — This 
invented  in  Egypt,  and  by  the  Egyptians  carried  to  India. — From  the  Eijjptiahs  it 
came  to  Greece,  and  from,  Greeqe.  to  us.  ""p^'if44 

:,  :  ,  CHAP, 


CONTENTS. 


CHAP.      VI. 


Of  Religion,  and  the  neceffity  of  it  to  conflitute  and  carry  on  a  good  polity..^The  opi- 
nion of  Mr  David  Hume  upon  this  fubieft,  very  different  from  that  of  Cicero. — Re- 
ligion not  known  to  Alan  in  his  natural  ftate, — nor  in  the  firft  age  of  civility. ^This 

proved,  firft  by  Reafoti,  and  then  by  Facts, — and  firft  as  to  Rcafzn. — It  fhews  that 
Miin  in  the  natural  ftate  can  have  no  ideas  at  all  -,  and,  in  the  beginning  of  civility, 
only  ideas  of  corporeal  fubftances, — but  no  ideas  of  invifible  powers  aibng  upon  bo- 
dy, without  which  there  can  be  no  idea  of  God. — This  idea  only  to  be  acquired  in 
procefs  of  time  after  the  invention  of  different  ans. — Secondly  as  to  FaSfs;  it  is  prov- 
ed by  the  example  of  the  Ourang  Outang, — Peter  the  Wild  tjoy, — the  Wild  Girl  in 
France, — the  people  of  the  Pelew  lilands, — thoie  of  New  Zeaiaiid — ui  New  Holland, 
and  particularly  of  Botany  Bay Objedtion  anlwered,  troin  the  example  of  the  In- 
dians of  North  America,  who  have  got  the  notion  of  a  great  ipint. — This  they  muft 
have  got  from  a  people  farther  advanced  in  arts  and  civ.lu;y,  who  are  proved  by  mo- 
numents Itill  exifting  to  have  been  once  in  that  country. —  iuat  the  idea  of  a  God 
is  not  an  iimate  idea;  no  innate  ideas  of  any  kind.  Page  159 

CHAP.      VII. 

Impoffible  that  the  Egyptians,  who  had  invented  fo  many  arts  and  fciences,  fhould  not 
have  been  Religious. — They  were  the  moft  Religious  of  all  Nations. — Religion  here 
confidered  as  a  Political  Inftitutioii,  which  produced  no  bad  effects  among  the  Egyp- 
tians, as  it  has  done  in  many  other  Nations. — If  it  produced  no  bad  eftects,  where 
there  was  lb  much  of  it  as  in  Egypt,  it  muil  have  produced  good  effects. — Difference 
betwixt  the  ReUgion  of  Egypt  and  that  of  other  Countries. — In  other  Countries 
the  Gods  only  predicted  events ;  in  Egypt  they  were  Kings,  and  Governed. — Of  the 
nature  of  the  Egyptian  Gods. — They  were  embodied,  were  born,  and  diedj  and  were 
<>f  different  Characters. — They  were  of  that  clafs  of  Beings  called  Daemons.  —This 
opinion  fupported  by  the  authority  of  Plutarch,  Plato,  and  other  Authors  quoted  by 
him. — Proved  from  theory  that  fuch  Beings  as  Dsemons  muft  exift,  otherwile  there 
would  be  a  void  in  the  univerfe,  which  cannot  be  fuppofed  to  be  in  fo  perfeft 
a  Syftem. — Agreeable  to  the  wifdom  and  goodnefs  of  God,  that  fuch  Beings  liiould 
be  fent  among  men,  to  aflift  them  to  recover  from  their  fallen  State,  by  teaching 
them  Arts  and  Sciences. — This  was  done  by  the  Daemons  in  Egypt. — ^This  happened 
in  other  countries  as  well  as  in  Egypt,  particularly  in  China  and  Peru. — In  Peru  there 
was  an  Oiiris  and  an  Ifis,  under  the  name  of  Manco  Capuc  and  his  Sifter-wife. — 
Authorities  from  Scripture  to  prove  the  exiftence  of  Dsnaons. — They  may  be  fup- 

b  2  .  pofe4 


C'O    N    T    E    N    T    S. 

pofed  to  have  been  the  Beings  called,  iii  'Scfipture,'  Xngels,  who  had  the  fuperiiitcn- 
dency  of  human  affairs.— Each  Nation  had  its  Angel.— A  bad  tranflation  of  a  text 
on  this  fubjeft  in  our  Bible.— TZv  Sons  of  God,  who,  we  are  told,  copulated  with  the 
Daughters  of  Men,  muft  have  been  Daemons. — This  interpretation  of  the  text  fiip- 
ported  by  the  authority  of  the  Fathers  of  the  Church. — It  was  natural  that  thofe 
Dxmons  in  Egypt  fhould  be  the  objedls  of  Popular  Worfhip  there; — but  the  learned 
Ecvptians  made  a  diftinftion  betwixt  the  Popular  Religion  and  the  Religion  of  Phi- 
lofophers.— Pi-oof  of  this  from  their  knowing  the  doftrine  of  the  Trinitj-l-l^A  gfSat 
deal  of  Rites,  Ceremonies,  and  Pomp  in  the  Popular  Religion  of  ^.gypt. — The  (afhe 
in  the  Religion  of  Greece  and  Rome; — alfo  in  the  Religions  of  the  Jews. — Proof  of 
this  from  Scripture. — Mulic  a  confiderable  part  of  the  Religion  of  all  Antient  Na- 
^tioiis'j— Very  mticli  attended  to  by  the  Egyptians. — The  Antient  MuIic  among  them 
'"carefully  preferred. — Of  the  Oracles  in  Egypt. — By  them  only  the  Egyptians  divined. 
'__Prom  them  Oracles  came  to  Greece,  but  not  to  the  Romans,  who  divined  only  by 
the  Flight  of  Birds  and  Entrails  of  Beafts. — Ot  the  Egyptian  Oracles.— Thefe  were 
given  By  the  Dsemons  who  had  Reigned  over  them  ; — difference  in  that  refpeft  be- 
twixt the  Oracles  of  Egypt  and  of  Greece,  as  well  as  betwixt  the  Gods  of  Egypt  and 
of  Greece. — Of  the  deceit  and  impofture  of  the  Greek  Oracles. — Of  the  Sacred  Ani- 
mals among  the  Egyptians. — Thefe  were  types  of  their  Divinities. — Better  reprefen- 
tations  of  DivinitJ'  than  any  thing  inanimate,  fuch  as  Brafs  or  Stone. — By  means  of 
thefe  Sacred  Animals,  the  Egyptians  iived  with  their  Gods,  more  than  any  other 
People; — and  were  the  moft  Religious  of  all  People; — and  alio  the  Happieil. — Ob- 
fervations  upon  the  difference  betwixt  the  Rel'gion  of  the  Philofopher  and  the  Vul, 
gar.: — A  Religion  of  contemplation,  fuch  as  that  of  the  Philolbpher,  not  fit  for  an 
vininftrufted  Mind.  Page  155 

C    H    A>!  i?,o    VIII. 

Of  Government,  and  the  general  Principles  upon  which  it  muft  be  founded. — Of  the 
impprtance  of  Government, — without  it  there  could  have  been  no  arts  or  fciences 
among  Men ;  nor  of  confequence  any  Religion. — Even  Religion  witliput  Govern- 
ment could  not  have  made  men  happy. — Therefore  Government  a  moft  important 
part  of  the  hiftory  of  man. — Men  firft  lived  in  herds, — then  in  fiunilies. — E.\amples 
of  men  living  in  that  way  in  antient  times,  and  even  at  this  day. — Of  the  Union  of 
families.  States  were  formed. — There  Government  became  neceffafyi— Every  ^Statc 
muft  confift  of  the  Governors  and  the  Governed. — It  is  nature  that  muil  fit  men  to 
govern  or  to  be  governed. — ^The  Greek  Philofophers  have  faid  too  little  o^ nature,  and 
feem  to  have  fuppofed  ihzX.  education 'm^t  inatfeir  of  Gbvernmerit  v.ms  every  thine : 
'■^Of  the  difference  of  men  by  nature, — fome  fit  to  govei-n,  and  fomejit  to  be,  go- 
verned.—Of  Heliod's  divifion  of  men :— The  firft  dafs  of  that  divifioa  only  fit  to  be 

governors. 


CONTENTS. 

governors. — Thefe  muft  be  very  few  in  every  nation. — The  excellency  of  the  fpecles, 
Man,  confined  to  a  few  races,  like  that  of  other  fpeciefes. — The  two  other  clafles  of 
men  fit  only  to  be  governed,  but  in  different  ways. — Iso  education  can  make  men  fit 
to  govern,  who  by  nature  are  not  qualified : — How  it  was  firft  difcevered  that 
men  by  nature  were  fo  qualified. — It  was  by  the  look,  the  figure,  and  the  fize. 
— In  this  way  men  were  diftinguiflied  in  the  herds; — and  (U^  ^mprt;  i^i^t^e  f?^- 
eties  formed  of  families, — of  thefe  were  the  firft  founders  of  States  and  Rulers. 
—This  proved  by  the  example  of  the  firft  States  of  c.reece. — No  States  could  have 
been  conftituted  without  fuch  men. — The  defcription  of  fuch  men  by  Homer. — Of 
the  heroic  Kings  in  Greece. — Thefe  not  Da:mons,  like  the  firft  Egyptian  Kings,  but 
mere  men  that  came  from  Crete  or  Egypt. — Of  the  heroic  form  of  Government, — 

of  the  qualifications  necefiary  for  the  governor  of  fuch  a  ftate ^The  fame  form  of 

Government  among  the  Indians  of  North  America. — Obfervations  upon  the  necefllty 
of  eloquence  for  carrying  on  a  free  Government — The  antient  heroic  Kings  excelled 
in  that  art. — The  account  of  thofe  Kings  given  by  Homer,  an  important  part  in  the 
hiftory  of  man. — ^They  were  the  nobleft  race  of  men  that  ever  exifted. — No 
exaggeration  by  Homer  in  their  characters  and  manners; — all  thofe  heroes  of 
noble  birth. — The  value  of  horfes  depends  upon  their  birth. — bio  diftin<5lion 
betwixt  men  and  horfes  in  that  refpedl. — In  later  times,  the  diftinftion  of  birth 
obferved,   particularly  among    the    Athenians   and   the    Romans. — The    bad   con- 

fcquences  of  the  negleft  of  that  diftincUon,   particularly  among  the   Romans. 

The  fame  diftinftion  of  birth  obferved  in  modern  times,  particularly  in  the  Knights 

of  Malta. — No  diftinftion  of  races  of  men  now,  as  there  was  in  the  heroic  times. 

Of  the  degeneracy  of  the  heft  races  of  men  by  impure  mixtures,  and  by  an  improper 
education  and  manner  of  life — Example  of  one  heroic  race  being  preferved  by  living 
in  a  proper  way. — The  Government  in  Rome  under  the  Kings,  the  fame  with  the 
heroical  Government. — Better  under  one  King  than  two  Confuls. — Of  the  defeft  of 
the  heroic  Governments  in  giving  fo  much  power  to  the  people. — ^The  confequence 
of  that  in  Athens  and  in  Rome. — Another  objection  to  tliis  heroical  Government  is 
that  it  was  not  fitted  for  the  improvement  of  arts  and  fciences. — ^Thefe  defects  reme- 
died in  the  Government  of  Egypt.  p 


age  173 


C    H    A    P.      IX. 

The  queftion  to  be  confidered  is,  "Which  is  the  beft  form  of  governmen*-  amonfr  men  ? 
— That  the  democratical  is  the  worft,  the  author  fupppfe^  m  the,  preceding  chapter. 
— That  it  is  foj  proved  <i, ./r^ri,  from  the  , nature,  ©^  man  and^of  government: — 
Proved  alfo  by  faft  and  experience,— particularly  by  the;exampje  ^of^'the  Athenians, 
a  people,  the  clevercft  that  perhaps  ever  exifted;  yet  they' could  not  govern  them- 
felves.— When  they  ceafed  to  be  governed  by  the  laws  which  S.olpif ,  gave  them,  or 

/"'';  by 


C    O    N    T    E    If^  T    5. 

by  eminent  men,  that  got  the  lead  among  them,  their  affairs  went  into  the  greatefl 
difordcr,  and  their  State  was  ruined. — Their  feizing  the  public  money,  and  applying 
it  to  their  maintainance  and  pleafures,  one  of  the  chief  caijles  of  their  ruin. — This 
made  them  live  an  indolent  and  pleafurable  life,  which  made  them  unfit  for  the  great 
wars,  wherein  they  engaged — of  their  lofles  in  the  Peloponefian  war, — which  had 
like  to  have  ended  in  the  total  deftruftion  of  their  city. — By  the  peace  which  they 
were  forced  to  make,  they  were  fubjefted  to  thirty  tyrants.— One  chief  reafon  of 
their  ill  fuccefs  in  the  war,  was  their  fufpicion  of  all  the  men  of  eminence  among 
them, — V  hich  made  them  praftice  that  extraordinary  form  of  procefs  called  Oftra- 
cifm. — Example  of  that  in  the  cafe  of  Ariftides — ^They  might  perhaps  have  taken 
Syracufe,  if  they  had  not  recalled  Alcibiades  from  that  expedition. — Their  reafon 
for  recalling  him,  a  moft  frivolous  one. — The  adminiftration  of  their  affairs  at  Rome 
in  fome  inftances  accompanied  with  the  greatefl:  injuftice, — an  example  of  this  in  the 
condemnation  and  execution  of  fourteen  of  their  fea  commanders,  who  had  obtained 
for  them  a  fingle  viftory. — Their  democratical  form  of  government  corrupted  their 
manners, — and  made  them  a  people  quite  different  from  their  anceftors. — Their  go- 
vernment a  moft  compleat  democracy,  where  Liberty  and  Equality  were  in  the  high- 
eft:  perfe(Slion. — No  other  example  neceffary  to  prove  how  bad  a  government  demo- 
cracy is,  than  the  example  of  France  before  our  eyes  ; — more  folly,  madnefs,  and 
crimes,  committed  under  that  government  by  the  French,  than  there  is  any  example 
of  in  any  other  nation  in  the  fame  fliort  fpace  of  time. — Monarchy  the  beft  form  of 
government. — It  is  the  government  of  the  Univerfe,  and  the  firft  government  among 
men — fo  much  founded  in  nature,  that  it  takes  place  occafionally  even  in  conftitu- 
tions  of  which  it  is  no  part, — as  in  the  cafe  of  the  Dictator  among  the  Romans.— 
Of  the  perpetual  Dictator  in  Rome,  and  then  of  their  Emperors. — One  effential  dif- 
ference betwixt  the  democratical  and  monarchical  governments,  that  the  democrati- 
cal never  can  be  a  good  government,  but  the  monarchical,  though  not  reftrained  by 
laws,  may  be  a  good  government ; — two  chances  for  that,  if  the  Kmg  be  a  good 
King,  or  his  Minifter  a  good  Minifter. — The  particular  happinefs  of  Britain  is  to  have 
both  good. — Nothmg  can  make  men  defirous  of  a  change  of  fuch  a  government,  but 
the  infedion  of  the  French  madnels  j — proper  means  ufed  to  prevent  that.  Page  i88 

CHAP.       X. 

-  Ai  i^bEfa   si  rioijs3Bfp 
Of  the  government  of  Egypt. — That  government  very  antient, — as  antient  as  the  days 

of  Jofcplii — no  other  regular  government  then  on  earth,  except  in  India: — But  that 
-  government  derived  from  Egypt — All  governments  confift  of  the  governors  and  the 
governed. — Of  the  governors  in  Egypt. — The  government  there  monarchical,  which 
the  Egyptians  thought  the  beft  government. — The  King  in  Egypt  had  only  the  exe- 
cutive power. — A  higher  dafs  of  men  were  his  Counlcliors. — To  them  were  intruft- 

ed 


CONTENTS. 

«d  the  religion  of  the  country,  and  arts  and  rdences.— The  excellency  of  every  man. 
In  every  art  and  fcience,  muft  depend  upon  his  natural  genius  and  his  education,— of 
thefe  two  the  firft  is  principal. — Nature  muft  lay  the  foundation  of  excelling  in  all 
arts.— Of  the  difference  betwixt  the  philofophy  of  the  Egj-ptians  and  that  of  the 
Gieek  philofophers,  as  to  the  natural  diftinftion  of  men.— The  Greek  philofophers 
thought  that  education  alone  was  fufficient  to  make  a  good  governing  man. — The 
Priefts  of  Egypt  were  the  governing  men  there. — The  name  which  they  gave  them- 

-  felves : ^They  were  kept  quite  diftinct  from  the  reft  of  the  people, — had  the  cuftody 

of  religion,  and  the  care  of  arts  and  fciences. —  ihefe  two  neceflarily  connefted. — 
Without  having  cultivated  his  intelletftual  faculties,  no  man  can  have  a  juft  idea  of 
fupreme  intelligence. — The  reafon  for  this. — Further  proofs  that  tliere  is  a  natural 
difference  of  men. — A  great  diftinflion  of  men  in  India  in  antient  times. — ^This  is 
ftjU  to  be  feen  there. — This  diftin£lion  of  men  every  where  to  be  found, — even  in 
the  new  difcovered  World  in  the  South  Sea. — No  doctrine  more  abfurd  than  that  of 
the  natural  equality  of  men. — The  moft  pernicious  doftrine  when  applied  to  govern- 
ment.—Other  claffes  of  men  in  Egypt,  fet  apart  and  diftinguiflied  from  the  reft.— 
And  firft  the  military  clafs. — Some  obfervations  upon  that  clafs. — They  belong  to  the 
2d  order  of  men  mentioned  by  Hefiod. — ^The  other  claffes  confift  of  men  who  are 
neceffiiry  in  every  ftate,  being  fuch  as  provide  the  neccffaries  of  life  for  the  people. 
■■^iuDifference  betwixt  Herodotus  and  Diodorus  Siculus,  as  to  the  divifion  of  them. — 
To  make  the  diftin£tion  of  men  among  the  inferior  claffes,  a  matter  of  great  difficul- 
ty.  It  was  the  work  of  the  Daemon  Kings  in  Egypt,  who  formed   the  polity  of  E- 

gypt. This  polity  formed  before  the  expedition  of  Ofiris  into  India, — ^not  the  work 

of  any  of  the  human  Kings. — Providence  interpofed  to  promote  the  progrefs  of  men 
'tbwards  their  recovery  from  their  fallen  ftate,  by  the  improvement  of  their  intellec- 
tual faculties.— This  he  did  among  the  Jews,  to  whom  he  gave  a  law  and  conftitu- 
tion,  by  his  Angels  and  by  Mofes.     This  he  did  alfo  in  Eg)'pt,  but  not  in  fo  fignal 
' '  manner,  as  among  the  Jews.— tt  was  proper  that  a  difference  fhould  be  made  be- 
twixt the  two  nations. — Of  the  education  in  Egypt. — There  the  beft  education  pqf- 
fible;  for  it  was  domeftic,— all  arts  and  fciences  there  hereditary,  and  continually  in- 
creafingfrom  generation  to  generation. — This  education  compared  with  the  education 
amono  us,  and  the  education  among  the  Greeks  and  Romans. — Nature  and  Educa- 
tion never  feparated  among  the  Egyptians. — ^Where   that   feparation  is   made,  the 
■  charafters  of  men  can  never  be  perfect. — Of  the  manner  of  living  of  the  Egyptian 
•  Priefts. — This  too  qualified  them  to  excel  in  arts  and  fciences. — In  this  likewife  very 
"  different  from  m.en  of  fcience  in  other  countries. — It  was  therefore  neceffary,  that 
^fliey  fhotJld  excel  the  Greeks  and  every  other  nation  in  arts  and' philofophy.— The 
"TEgyptians  had  riot  among  them  the  arts  of  poetry  and  rhetoric— Nor  did  they  cul- 
^Vivate  mufic  fo  much  ns  the  Greeks  did,  as  it  was  no  art  of  pleafure  among  them.— 
-'"'  -  Sculpture 


CONTENTS. 

■Smlpturc  and  painting  practifed  among  the  Egyptians,  but  more  Cultivated  among 
the  Greeks. — The  Greek  genius,  particularly  fuited  for  the  fine  arts. — Of  the  elec- 
tion of  the  Kings  in  Egypt. — The  Priefls  there  were  eleftors, — but  had  not  fo  great 
power  over  the  Kings,  as  the  Priefts  of  Ethiopia  had,  though  the  Egyptians  were  a 
colony  of  Ethiopians,  aad  though  there  was  a  great  fimilarity  of  cuftoms  and  man- 
ners in  the  two  nations. — Of  the  divifion  of  land  in  Egypt.  Page  201 

CHAP.      XI. 

Gbfervations  to  prove  that  the  Egyptian  form  of  government  was  moft  perfect. — The 
Egyptian  government  had  not  the  fault  of  the  heroic  governments,  nor  of  the  later 
governments  in  Greece,  that  of  being  too  popular. — The  confequence  of  a  popular 
government  is,  giving  power  to  men  who  can  neither  give  nor  take  good  council. — 
The  government  of  Egypt  had  not  another  defeft  of  the  heroic  governments  in 
Greece,  viz.  that  it  was  not  fit  for  the  cultivation  of  arts  and  fciences. — Leifure  re- 
quired for  that,  and  a  clafs  of  men  fet  apart  for  that  purpofe. — This  the  Priefts  of 
Xgypt  had. — Antient  learning  never  could  have  been  reftored  in  Europe  in  the  15th 
and  1 6th  centuries,  if  men  had  not  been  fet  apart  for  that  purpofe — ObjetStion  to  the 
Egyptian  government,  that  it  was  not  a  free  government,  fuch  as  the  heroic  govern- 
ments.— Anfwer,  that  it  was  not  a  popular  government,  and  fo  much  the  better 
for  not  being  fuch  ; — reafon  for  this. — Objection,  that  the  people  in  Egypt  were  go- 
Terned  like  flaves. — Anfwer,  that  they  were  fo  wife,  as  to  fubmit  willingly  to  the 
government  eftab'ifhed  among  them,  and  not  to  obey  through  fear  or  by  compulfion. 
— This  was  the  cafe  of  the  Capadocians  of  old,  and  the  Peafants  at  prefent  in  Poland 
and  RufEa. — The  confequences  of  the  people  being  taken  from  their  private  bufinefs 

to  attend   the  Public,  is  their  poverty. — Examples  of  this  in  Athens  and  Rome. 

They  will  dcfire  to  make  profit  of  the  Public;  and  that  will  produce  faction  and  cor- 
ruprion. — No  Slaves  in  Egypt. — ^That  proved  by  the  filence  of  Antient  authors  upon 
that  fubifft,  and  by  the  prefent  pradlice  in  Inda. — Sefoftris  d,d  not  make  Slaves  of 
his  Ciptives,  but  employed  them  in  public  works — Slavery,  an  impolitical  inftitution, 
— not  neceffary  ui  Egypt,  as  it  vras  m  Greece  and  Rome — No  indigence  in  Egvpt 
fuch  as  in  modern  Nations,  and  was  in  antient  times. — No  money  there. — Commerce 
carrietl  on  by  Exchange. — No  j^reat  eitates. —  That  prevented  by  the  Agraran  law,  di- 
viding the  land  among  three  orders  of  the  State. — ^No  foreign  luxury  in  Egvpt,  as 
they  had  no  trade  with  other  countriefs..^A'  finguiar  thing  in  the  Hiftory  of  Eiypt 
that  they  made  no  Provinces  of  the  Countries  they  conquered, — nor  impofed  any 
tribute  upon  them. — ^The  Egyptians,  not  only  h'ppy  themfelves,  but  a  public  blef. 
fiiig  to  mankind,  by  nnponing  arts  and  civility  among  them. — The  three  great  arti- 
cles of  the  poLtical  lyitem,  are  tuc  health,  the  morals,  and  the  numOers  of  the  peo- 
ple 


CONTENTS. 

pie. — As  to  health,  the  Egyptians  the  Lealthieft  of  all  civilifed  nations ; — ufed  Phy- 
fic,  not  only  to  cure  difeafes,  but  to  prevent  them. — As  to  morals— thefe  better  in 
Egypt  than  in  other  countries,  becaufe  they  were  the  moft  religious  of  men, — and  had 
not  thofe  temptations  to  vice,  which  other  nations  have  by  wealth  and  by  indigence. 
— Land  their  only  property ;  which  could  not  be  accumulated  in  the  hands  of  indi- 
viduals.— As  to  numbers,  thcfe  were  wonderful  in  Egypt. — A  particular  account  of 
the  number  of  Cities  under  Amafis  and  Ptolemy  Lagus. — This  number  of  Cities  more 
to  be  depended  on  than  the  numbering  of  Men. — Reafons  given   for  the  wonderfal 

increafe  of  Men   in   Egypt All   marrying,   and    having   chudren.— All   children 

brought  up  at  the  fmallcft  expence. — And  children  not  dying  under  age,  as  fo  many 
die  among  us. — One  extraordinary  reafon  for  the  increafe  of  people,  was  the  addi- 
tion to  the  country  of  the  Delta. — Tliis  muft  have  added  very  much  to  the  numbers 
of  the  people,  as  well  as  to  the  increafe  of  learning. — The  Egyptian  Government 
thus  proved  to  be  the  beft  that  ever  exifted ;  and  the  moft  fitted  for  the  cultivation 
of  arts  and  fciences. — ^The  duration  of  the  Government  of  Egypt,  a  proof  of  its  ex- 
cellency.— No  changes  made  in  it  during  a  prodigious  number  of  years. — No  difputes 
about  the  fucceffion  to  tlie  Crown,  till  the  Greeks  canie  among  them. — The  Ethio- 
pian Kings  to  be  confidered  as  of  the  fame  country. — Proof  of  the  perfeftion  of  the 
Government  of  Egypt,  is  the  duration  of  the  fame  Government  iu  India,  notwith- 
ftanding  all  the  ccjpquefts  that  have  been  made  in  that  country. — People  in  India  di- 
vided in  the  flime  manner  as  in  Egypt. — The  Hindoos  of  India,  a  very  happy  peo- 
'  pie. — Antient  Egypt  to  be  coniidered  as  preferved  hi  India.  Page  2:0 

CHAP.       XII. 

Comparifon  of  the  prefent  State  of  Eg)'pt  with  its  antient  State. — ^The  change  more  fof 
the  worfe  than  in  any  other  country. — In  Herodotus's  time,  it  was  a  country  more 
wonderful  than  all  the  other  countries  upon  the  earth. — Of  its  climate,  and  its  river. 
— The  climate  not  liable  to  excefs  either  of  hot  or  cold,  dry  or  wet. — The  changes 
of  thefe  protluce  many  difeafes  among  men. — The  river  more  wonderful  than  the 
climate. — It  has  created  a  country  in  Egypt, — and  makes  this  country  wonderfully 
fruitful  by  renewing  the  foil  of  it. — Without  that,  the  land  of  Egypt  could  not  have 

""iafted  or  maintained  fo  many  people. — Examples  to  prove  this. — ^The  Nile  made  ag- 
riculture in  Egypt  a  very  eafy  art,  which  is  fo  laborious  in  other  countries. — It  de- 
livered them  from  the  reproach  of  feeding  upon  dung. — ^The  river,  befides,  yielded 
many  plants  of  different  kinds,  upon  which  the  inhabitants  of  the  marfby  part  of 
Egypt  lived. — The  land  of  Egypt  fertile  as  well  as  the  water.-- .It  produced  wheat 
and  barley  wliich  grew  wild  there,  and  no  where  elfe. — Of  the  works  of  art  in  E- 
gypt. — The  JirJ}  and  greateft  work  of  that  k'nd,  the  mounds  of  earth,  upon  which 
Vol.  IV.  c  ihc 


C    O    N"    T    E    N    T    S. 

tbe  cTties  were  built,  and  without  which  the  country  could  not  have  been  inhabited. 
— The  fecond  great  work  of  art  in  Egypt,  was  the  Lake  of  Msris ; — a  moft  ufeful  work, 
— of  wonderful  circumference  and  depth. — The  third  great  work  of  Egypt,  was  the 
Labyrinth. — The  fourth,  the  Pyramids, — the  la/}  of  the  great  works  of  Egypt,  as  He- 
rodotus has  arranged  them,  but  fuch,  that,  if  they  had  not  been  ftill  extant,  we 
could  hot  have  believed  in  the  other  wonders  of  Egypt. — The  greateft  work  of  art  a- 
mong  the  Egyptians,  was  their  Government, — the  fubjecl  of  wliich  was  Alen,  and 
not  materials  fuch  as  flone  and  brick. — In  this  they  exceeded  all  the  world. — All 
thefe  arts,  joined  with  their  prodigious  numbers,  and  the  arts  and  fciences  they  in- 
vented, make  them  the  moft  wonderful  people  on  earth. — Of  the  prcfent  ftate  of 
E^ypt, — wonderfully  changed  for  the  worfe, — firft,  as  to  the  numbers  of  the  people. 
— The  antient  E^vptian  R.ice  not  to  be  found  in  Egypt: — ^So  that  the  nation  may  be 
faid  to  be  annihilated. — Inftead  of  being  the  moft  fruitful  country  in  the  world,  not 
able  to  maintain  the  few  inhabitants  that  are  in  it :  And,  inftead  of  being  ttie  heal- 
thieft  country  in  the  world,  it  is  now  the  feat  of  difeafe.  Page  245 

CHAP.      XIIL 

Recapitulation  of  what  has  been  faid  in  the  former  chapter. — The  fubjefl  of  the  origin 
Oi  the  arts  and  fciences  continued. — The  art  ot  government  invented  in  Egypt,  and 
brought  to  perfeftion. — Of  the  neceflary  arts  of  life  there  invented. — Language  alfo 
will  be  fliown  to  have  been  there  invented. — ^The  ufe  of  fire  difcovered  in  Ej;ypt ; — 
and  the  ufe  of  it  in  making  glafs,  which  was  unknown  to  the  Greeks  and  Romans. — 
Glafs  coloured  like  precious  ftones,  alfo  known  to  them ; — likewife  the  hatching  of 
chickens  without  incubation. — Of  the  art  of  mufic: — It  was  pratlifed  in  Egypt  for  the 
beft  purpofes:- — As  it  was  praftifed  there,  it  was  alfo  there  invented.^-Tlie-' praftice 
of  it  very  antient  in  Egypt. — It  was  invented  under  the  Dasmon  Kings, — and  was 
preferved  with  the  greateft  care,  and  no  innovation  of  it  iutiered. — For  this  purpole 
there  muft  have  been  a  notation  of  it. — An  art  of  mufic  of  very  difficult  invention 
being  the  application  of  numbers  to^  the  tones  of  the  human  voice  or  of  inftruments, 
- — a  fliort  account  given  of  the  difficulty  of  the  invention — It  could  only  have  been 

invented  in  a  country  fuch  as  Egypt,  where  arts  and  fciences  were  cultivated. ^Tue 

Greek  mufic  no  better  than  the  mufic  of  the  Hurons,  till  Pythagoras  brought  the  art 

into  Greece  from  Eg^'pt. — From  thence  they  only  got  the  Diatonic  Scale. To  tliis 

they  added  the  Chromatic  and  the  Enharmonic. — This  refinement  of  mufic   not  fo 
proper  for  the  ufeful  purpofes  to  wliich  the  Egyptians  applied   it. — The   Greeks   had 

alfo  modes  of  mufic,  fuch  as  the  Dorian,  the  Phrygian,  and  Lydian ^The  \pritine 

art  more  conneftcd  wiili  language  than  mufic. — It  is  language  not  pronounced. A 

wcrhderful  art,  by  which  founds  are  made  vifible. — a  progrefs  in  the  writin<T  art  as  in 

every 


CONTENTS. 

every  other.— At  firft,  the  ideas  were  diredtly  reprcfcnted,  by  figures  natural  or  fym- 
bolical.— Thel'e  laft  were  what  is  called  Hieroglyphics.— Of  the  affiftrince  given  to 
our  mtellea  by  our  fenfes,  and  how  wonderfully  the  two  concur  to  carry  on  man  in 
the  purfuit  of  knowledge.— The  advantages  of  the  writing  art.— This  art  invented  in 
Egypt  by  a  Daemon,  called  Theuth.— But  he  invented  only  the  notation  of  the  ele- 
mental founds  by  written  charaders.— The  analyfis  of  language,  into  elemental 
founds,  was  before  his  time,  under  the  Dsemou  Kmgs.  Page  2C4 

CHAP.      XIV. 

Of  the  difficulty  of  the  Invention  of  Language.— The  forming  of  ideas,  neceflarily  pre- 
vious to  the  invention  of  Language ;  as  there  can  be  no  Language,  wnich  has  only 
names  for  individual  things.— Of  the  difference  betwixt  Particular  and  General  Ideas: 
— Abftraft  and  General  Ideas  not  the  fame. — Of  the  material  part  of  Lanouage,  Ar- 
ticulation ; — of  wonderful  difficult  invention. — Nature  has  furniihed  the  materials 
with  which  other  arts  work;  but  we  have  created  the  materials  of  Language Won- 
derful, that  we  fliould  have  learned  to  articulate  by  any  praflice.— Speaking  the  moll 
•wonderful  thing  among  Men. — As  JMen  fpeak  by  imitation,  they  muft   have  been 
taught  to  fpeak. — ^This  could  not  be  done  by  Men  fuch  as  we, — but  they  muft  have 
had  fupernatural  affiftance,  and  been  taught  by  Da.>mons. — A  Language  of  Art  could 
not  have  been  formed  without  Men  having  made  fome   progrefs  in   other  Arts   and 
Sdences. — This  could  not  be  without  fome   kind  of  Language  being  ufed  before  a 
Language  of  Art  was  formed. — The  formal  part  of  Language,  a  moft  wonderful  part 
of  the  Art. — ^There  muft  be  words  in  a  Language  of  Art,  to  exprefs  every  thing  in 
the  World  of  Nature  and  the  World  of  Art,  Immaterial  thmgs  as  well  as  Material. 
— Each  individual  thing  impoffible  to  be  exprefled, — only  the  fpecies  of  them  can  be 
expreffed. — Thefe  lb  many,  that  they  could  not  be  all  expreffed  by  words  unconnefted 
with  one  anotlier. — But  they  are  coimected  together  by  the  three  great  Arts  of  Lan- 
guage, Derivation,  Compolltion,  and  Fleclion. — Of  thefe  three,  the  greateft  Art  is 
Fleclion. — An  example  of  the  Art  of  it  in  the  Verb. — To  a  Language  that  is  perfect 
is  joined  the  pleafant  Art  of  Mufic,  conflfting  of  Melody  and  Rhythm. This  com- 
mon to  feveral  of  the  Antient  Languages,  and  to  fome  Modern  Languages. Of  the 

difference  betwixt  the  Mufic  of  the  Chinefe  Language  and  that  of  the  Greek The 

one  is  Chanting  or  Singing ;  the  other  of  a  line  Melodious  flow,  fuitable  to  Lan- 
guage, and  quite  different  from  common  IMufic— Language  thus  iliown  to  be  a 
moft  beautifiil  as  well  as  ufeful  Art,  and  of  the  greateft  extent,  variety,  and,  at  the 
fame  time,  regularity.  „_  264 

c  2  CHAP. 


€%    N    t\^\% 


CHAP.       XV. 

Reafons  for  the  Author  infifimg  Co  mucli  upon  the  difficulty  of  the  invention  of  the  Arr 
of  Language. — One  reafon  is,  that  it  tends  to  prove,  that  Language  mutt  have  been 
invented  in  Egypt,  where  fo  many  other  arts  were  m vented. — Proved,  iw9,  That 
Xifiguag^"¥as  invented  by  the  Egyptians,  by  the  progrefs  they  made  in  other  arts 
°and  in  fciences,  which  could  not  have  been  without  Language. — 2iJ/y,  Articulation 
Courd  not  have  been  i.nvented  without  the  alEuance  of  thole  Disemon  Kings,  whom 
the  Egyptians  had. — 3/;5,  We  are  iure  that  the  Egyptians  made  the  firrt  itep  in  the 
invention  of  au  art  of  Language,  by  analyiing  it  into  its  elemental  Tounds. — They  did 
not  flop  at  that  analyfis,  but  liiiewife  analyfed  the  words  into  the  parts  of  fpeech. — 
But  thefe  words  at  firft  monofyllabical. — In  this  Itate  Language  went  to  China,  where 
it  remains  unimproved,  in  its  original  ftate, — Hieroglyphics  went  there  alfo.; — and 
there  they  ai-eftill  preferved. — In  Egj'pt  the  art  was  perfected  by  the  invention  of 
the  Alphabet,  and  of  a  PoUyfyllabical  Language,  formed  by  Derivation,  Com^poii- 
tion,  and  Fle(5tion. — ^This  compleated  the  Grammatical  Art,  and  the  Art  of  Lan- 
guage.—  The  Phcen;cians  the  only  people  that  can  contend  with  the  Egyptians  for 
tne  mvention  of  Language. — Sundry  reaibns  given  why  they  were  not  the  inventors 

-  of  it. —  i/w.  Their  Genius  did  not  lead  them  that  way,  being  wholly  employed  ia 
Trade,  and  ftudious  oaly  of  Gain. — 2d/y,  They  had  no  Polity  fit  for  the  invention 
or  cultivation  of  arts. — 3/w,  They  lived,  in  antient  times,  m  the  neighbourhood-  of 
the  Egyptians,  and  fo  may  be  luppofed  to  have  got  Language  and  other  arts  from 
them. — 4/a,  They  had  their  Religion  from  Egypt. — This  proved  by  fundry  fads. — 
The  Egyptians,  therefore,  the  mventors,  and  the  only  inventors  of  Language. — 
How  Language  and  other  arts  were  tranfmitted  from  Egypt  to  other  Counuies,  is 
an  important  part  of  the  Hiitory  of  Mam — This  to  be  treated  of  in  the  following 
Book.  fage  275 

BOOK        III. 


_iv;!f)f  the  Tranfmiflion  of  Arts  and  Sciences  from  Egypt  to  other 

Countries. 

CHAP.      L 
^dT — .eo  .^aorae  ai  br 

Egypt  fo  fituated  as  to  be  fit  for  communicating  its  Arts  to  many  countries  of  the  Earth. 
—It  communicated  by  laotl  -with  Africa  and  Alia. — In  Africa  their  Arts  do  not  ap- 
pear 


CONTENTS. 

pear  to  have  made  any  great  progrefs. — The  Lybians  quite  a  Savage  People. — They 
jpoke  a  very  barbarous  Languagi^  which  they  gjay,  have  formed  fro.n  hearing  the 
Egyptian  language  fpoken. — To  Alia  the  Egyptian  Laiiguage  and  Arts  may  have 
heeu  carried  by  Scforiris,-  who  ove.-rpn  ejv^i,  :t3(§f^!^':;^yra,->p.3ris,.qf  .Afia,  and  .efia- 
-faljllied  a!  colony  at  Ojlchis-upon-the  i;j^}aft:^e^:-r7-^he3ji?,v^.  l};a^ue<jl  tlieir  Langps^ge 
from  Egypt, — but  it  was  a  corrapt-.di^Je^T:  f)f  ?.TU^-i^gyptiaix_,Ji^l|j^h  .Jhey  liioke.— This 
-proved  from  what  paffed  in  Egypt  when  jac^'t"  and  his  iiiujily  came  there. — ^They 
■learned  alio  the  writing  Art  in  Egypt)  aii4 '•^X^tvl'i^  the  Egy.piiSns  frpm  right  to 
left. — Prom  Chaldxea  the  Egyptian  Langu-i^  fSOese4c4?l^  pi^er.parts  of  .Alia.-r^The 

-.Art  of  Language,  though . of  .ii)05fidjtfficija[ijieYSp^W-JWi'\jWJ-at|^?r|H^|^.,J^  ^9^y 
eafy  communication.- — Of  tji.?  progrels  of  tiif^jEgypuan.^ts^pqa. Egypt  ^p^^iirpge. 
^-Seioftris,  from  Colchis,  rnigiit  iiave  gone  ir;,Iuv.d.  ta.jTajjiee,,  4\aiei;e  he,  yras.: — 
But  the  eafier  and  Ihorter  paflage  from  Egypt  tc  ^-'^"9pe,.was,p/^jb^a,-r-:Tp^">ravu^atipn 

'  the  Egyptians  had, the  iiie  in  ,tfee, pajEeii  tiiap^— The  uea^pll,Ifl3iid  in ^ the,  Mediter- 

i  ranenn  Sea  to  Egypt  was  Crete.-^Thither  the  'E^;^;.\:.n  Arts  firit  went,  being  intro- 
duced  by  the  /a'«  Daciyle  and  tlie  Cuntes. —  i,:.!!:  iieiigion  came  frpm  Egypt  to 
Crtte,  proved  by  the  Sainothracian  and.  Eleaii,-j.i-.  I'tlyiieries,  being  well  known 
there. — Saturn  the  firft  Kjng  of  Crete,  being  a.;:i.runed  by  his  gcin,  Jupiter,  carried 

:  ifrom  thence  tile  Egyptian  Arts  to  Italy.,  and.niide  a.  _i'atur,nian  agie  there.— Jup^er 
rnied  in  Greece  as  weil  as  m  Crete, — introduce  i  tatre  the  Egyptian  Arts. —  iliefc 
Arts  brought  inta  Greece  more  uircccly  by  C  -     froai  £.^\y^- — The  cccciliiv  of 

Migrauon  from  io  Imall  a  Country  as  Egjji  i-^fiJ^V'^i^-— y^i.thetwo.^Jplonies 

whicti  came  trom  Etjypc,  and  fonneu  ine  iiat.jii6  oi  .Aihenians  and  Arcadians  : 

Thefe  the  two  moft  anticyit  nations  ol  Greece,— from  Aicadia  came  a  Colonv  under 

Oenotrus,  that  Icttled  m  Italy,  and  aiiovher  under  Evaiioer -From  Arcadia  came 

the  Felafgi,  who  introduced  a  great  dm.  t  civility  and  Arts  .into  Greece,  particu- 
larly the  Writing  Art : — liui  the  Egy^-iians  tarried  their  Arts  to  a  Country  very  >e- 
mote,  viz.  India. — This  tlie  lubjcci  o\  auotner  chapter.  fage  280 

CHAP.       II. 

The  Cmilarity  of  Polity,  Cuftoms,  and  Manners,  betwixt  nations  fo  remote  as  Egypt 
and  India,  wonderful,  and  without  example, — ^not  to  be  found  even  in  nations  con- 
tiguous.— The  firft  refemblance  is,  in  a  thing  lingular  to  both  nations, — ^viz.  the  divi- 
fion  of  the  people  into  dalles,  according  to  their  fevei-al  occupations. — This  divilioa 
in  India,  more  accurate  and  minute  than  in  Egypt. — Another  Angularity  in  which 
the  two  nations  agree  is,  the  veneration  of  the  Cow. — Of  the  divilion  of  Time  into 
Months  and  Years; — the  fame  in  India  as  it  was  in  Egypt,  and  is  among  us. — The 
iSxifion  into  Weeks  hot  necefTary  for  any  piirpofes  of  life,  yet  obferved  both  in.  India. 

.    and: 


CONTENTS. 

and  Egypt. — The  days  alfo  confecrated  to  the  fame  planets  and  in  the  fame  order. 
— The  conformity  betwixt  the  two  nations,  as  to  the  figns  of  the  Zodiac,  moft  ex- 
traordinary.— Of  the  Religion  of  India. — The  fame  diftinftion  made  there,  betwixt 
the  Popular  Religion  of  the  country  and  the  Religion  of  Philofophers. — The  fall  of 
man  maintained  by  the  Indians,  and  a  future  ftate  of  rewards  and  punilhments, — 
alfo  the  doftrine  of  the  tranfmigration  of  minds,  which  came  originally  from  Egypt. 
— ^The  diet  and  manner  of  life  of  the  Indians,  the  fame  as  in  antient  Egypt. — They 
eat  no  flefh,  but  of  the  beafts  which  they  facrifice. — ^They  drink  no  wine  or  ftrong 
liquors  ;  and  neither  did  the  Egyptians  in  very  antient  times. — The  fame  regard  for 
the  animal  life  in  India  as  in  Egypt — The  killing  of  fome  animals  was  a  capital  crime 
in  Egypt,  and  is  fo  in  India. —  There  a  mulft  is  impofed  for  the  killing  of  any  ani- 
mal, even  Tygers A  refemblance  betwixt  the  two  nations  alfo  in  their  feftivals,  and 

exhibitions  on  thofe  occafions.  Page  288 

CHAP.       III. 

The  conformity  in  fo  many  particulars,  betwixt  Egypt  and  India,  could  not  have  bcea 
by  accident, — nor  could  each  of  thefe  nations  have  been  the  original  inventors.— The 
one  muft  have  copied  from  the  other. — The  queftion  then.  Which  was  the  original 
which  the  copy? — No  third  nation,  from  which  thefe  two  nations  could  have  taken 
their  inftitutions  and  cuftoms, — fuch  a  conformity  could  not  have  been  produced  in 
the  ordinary  way  of  commerce. — The  two  nations,  therefore,  muft  have  mixed  and 
Kved  together  for  fome  time. — The  Indians  did  not  go  to  Egypt. — Therefore  the 
Egyptians  came  to  India. — This  proved  not  by  argument  only,  but  by  fafts; a  par- 
ticular account  given  by  Diodorus  of  the  expedition  to  India  by  Oliris, — alfo  of  that 

of  Sefoftris  to  the  fame  country. — Both  thefe  expeditions  by  land But  Sefollris  was 

not  the  firft  Egyptian  King  that  went  to  India. — This  attefted  not  only  by  the  facred 
books  of  the  Egyptians,  but  by  tradition  preferved  among  the  moft  learned  of  the 
Indians. — In  that  tradition  a  memorable  ftory  preferved,  of  Ofu-is  having  faved  his 
army  from  a  peftilential  difeafe   by  carrying   it  to   a  hill  called  M«^o,-. — Hence  the 

Greek  fable. — Summary  of  the  evidence  of  Ofiris  having  gone  to  India. Objeftion 

to  the  account  of  Ofiris's  expedition,  that  Herodotus  fays  nothing  of  it Tliis  an- 

fwered. — The  tradition  alfo  mentions  that  Hercules  was  in  India,  and  clothes  and 
arms  him  very  properly.-  The  abfurdity  of  the  Greek  fable,  concerning  the  cloath- 
ing  and  armour  of  Hercules. — Memorials  of  Ofiris  in  India,  to  be  feen  in  the  days  of 
Alexander,  and  even  of  Diodorus  Siculus — Strabo  did  not  beheve  in  the  expedition 
of  Ofiris.— A  reafon  given  for  that.- The  Egyptians  could  not  go  to  India  to  learn 
Civility  and  arts;— thefe  they  muft  have  K-.d  -rfore,- and  the  Indians  muft  have 
learned  them  from  them— This  proved  ^  '-'nek  men,  with  wooUy 

hair, 


CONTENTS*. 

hair,  to  be  leen  in  India;  and  alfo  in  China  and  Japan. — Proof  that   the   Egyptian 

Rehgion,  as  well  as  arts,  was  carried  to  all  the  countries  of  the  Eaft  as  well  as  to 

"  Ihdia.-*-Language  alfo  carried  from  Egypt  to  India, — a  language  of  art,  the  work  of 

''^ience  and  philofophy,  in  which  analyfis  is  very  much  praiftifed.  Page  295 

C     H     A     P.       IV. 

The  Egyptians  nuift  have  had  the  ufe  of  a  Language  of  Art  before  they  could  have  in- 
vented fo  many  Arts  and  Sciences,  as  it  is  proved  they  uid  invent. —  This  Language 
they  muft  have  invented  themfelves,  or  got  from  fome   other  country ; — 110  otlier 
country  but  Egypt,  where  it  could  have  been  invented — ^The  Phoenicians  could  not 
have  been  the  inventors  of  a  Language  of  Ait,  for  reafons  which  are  given. — The 
quefiion  is,  Whether  Ofiris  carried  10  India  the  Langu.ige   of  Egypt,  as  well   as  its 
other  arts  ? — It  the   language  of  India  were  a  barbarous  language,  it  could  not  be 
fuppofed  to  have  come  from  Egypt. — But  the  Shanfcrit,  the  ongmal  language  of  In- 
dia, a  language  of  the   greatcit  art. — This  proved  by  the  teltunony.  of  Sir  William 
Jones,  and  of  Brafley  Halhed. — It  excels  in  the  three  great  arts  of  Language,  Deriva- 
tion, Compoution,  and  Fledtion,  and  parliculany  m  the  lalL— In  tiie  pronunciation 
it  has  both  Melody  and  Rhythm; — and  iis  Poetry  is  formed  by  Ihorc  a. id  long  fylla- 
bles : — A  ipccimeii  of  that  Poetry  given  by  Bralfey  Halhed. — in  that  fpecimen    the 
words  are  of  grs-at  length,  and  full  of  vowels — Their  alphaoet  coiinits  of  50  letters. 
The  long  and  Ihort  vowels  marked  by  diflferent  characters. — Tlie   author  learned 
more  of  the  Shanfcrit  language  from  Mr  Wilkins  than  he  has  learned  any  other  way. 
Mr  Wilkins  has  proved  by  fa£t,  what  the  author  thought  could  only  be  proved  by 
argument,  that  the  Shanfcrit  was  the  Egyptian  language  imported  into  India  by  OH- 
ris. — This  proved  by  comparing  the  Greek  with  tae  Shanfcrit. — General  reflections 
on  the  tranlmiffion  of  languages  from  one  country  to  another,  and  the  changes  there- 
by made  in  the  languages. — And,  fiijl,  as  to  the  pronunciation. — -That  chanoes  in 
the  fame  nation  ;  but  much  more    when  a  language  is  carried  to  a  different  nation 
and  that  nation  at  a  great  diftance. — idly.  As  to  the  fenfe  of  the  words. — This  chaiia- 
ed,  too,  by  the  language  going  to  a  diitcrent  country. — Examples  of  derivative  lan- 
guages much  changed  from  the  original ;— fuch  .,s  the  Itah.m,  French,  ,j^nd  SpajDi^, 
and  the  diaieifVs  of  the  Gothic. — Though  thelc  languages  did  not  travel  far,  yet  {o 
changed  as  not  to  be  intelligible,  though  one  underftandb  the  parent  lanouage :— So 
different  alfo  from  one  another,  that  the  underitanding  of  one  will  not  make  you 
underftand  another.— The  change  niuft  have  been  much  greater  in  the  anticnt  £g)-p. 
itian  language,  when  it  travelled  Hs  fc  as  India,  and  was  introduced  among  a  people 
■fo  barbarous  as  the  Indj.lns  then  were — As  it  is  fpoken  by  the  common  people  there 
it  is  not  to  be  known  for  the  Lnngnage  of  anticnt   Egypt,  but  prcferved  among  the 

Bramins.- 


CONTENTS. 

,  Bramins. — Another  obfervation  upon  the  pafTage  of  language  from  one  country  tn 
another. — ^The  pronunciation  muft  oe  very  much  changed,  particularly  of  the  vowelsj 
— alfo  of  the  confonants.— Words  of  the  fame  found  do  not  prove  two  languages  to 
be  the  fame^—r not^^yep  if  ^l^ey  Jje  of  the  fame  fenfe  like  wife,  unlefs  there  be  many 
of. them,  or  words  that  muft  have  been  original  in  all  languages. — A  conformity  be- 
twixt two  languages  in  the  three  great   arts  of  Language,  Compofition,  Derivation, 

and   Fledlion,  the  fureft  proof  of  their   being  originally  the  fame  language The 

names  of  numbers^  and  of  members  of  the  human  body,  and  of  relations,  muft  be 
original  words  in  all  languages.^- 1;/?,  Of  the  names  of  numbers. — Thefe  in  Shanfcrit 
the  fame  as  in  Greek  and  Latin. — Some  anomalies  in  thefe  numbers  of  the  Shanfcrit, 
and  the  fame  in  Greek  and  Latin. — The  namss  of  the  members  of  the  human  body 

the  fame  in  Shanfcrit  as  in  Greek  and  Latin, — alfo  the   names   of  Relations ^The 

name  of  God  in  Shanfcrit,  the  fame  as  in  Greek  and  Latin, — many  words  of  the 
.Shanfcrit  more  Latin  than  Greek. — Inftances  of  that. — A  difference  in  the  found  of 
the  words  in  Shanfcrit,  and  in  Greek,  and  Latin. — This  accounted  for,  from  the 
great  changes  in  the  pronunciation  of  language. — Of  Greek  names  of  places  arid  ^er- 
fons  in  India,  when  Alexander  was  there, — thefe  names  more  Greek  than  the  pre- 
fent  Shanfcrit. — The  reafon  of  this. — A  great  many  more  Greek  words  to  be  collec- 
ted from  the  Shanfcrit — Mr  Wilkins  has  given  the  author  about  70  more. — Other 
words  he  has  got  from  other  travellers  in  India — Of  the  refemblance  of  the  two  lan- 
>j  guages  in  the  three  great  arts  of  Language,  Compofition,  Derivation,  and  Fle<flion. 

Examples  of  compofition  in  the  Shiuifcrit. — One  extraordinary  compofition,  with 

-   the  J  privative,  as  common  in  the  Shanfcrit  as  in  the  Greek — Of  derivation  in  the 
^  .Shanfcrit,  Mr  Wilkins  has  given  the  author  no  example, — but  it  is  ufed  in  that  lan- 
Mguage  as  well  as  compofition  and  fleftion. — Of  fleftion  in  the  Shanfcrit. — ^The  gireat 
variety  of  this  art  of  language  — Verbs  in  fu  in  the  Shanfcrit  as  well  as  in  the  Greek, 
a  fpecimen  of  four  perfons  of  the  prefent  tenfe  of  the  fubftantive  verb  in  the  Shan- 
fcrit, the  fame  with  the  Greek  and  Latin. — ^Mr  Wilkins,  by  comparing  the  two  lan- 
guages, has  proved  that  in  faft  the  two  languages  are  the  fameTj^^has  f6t1:1e(3,"  in  fhis 
way,  a  fact  which  was  denied  by  feme  ant:ent  authon;,  that  the' '  Egyptians  were  in 
,'bidia,-r-The. learned  world  thereby  much  obliged  to  him.  Page  318 

-ft     0)    ^-J-"- 

T;be  Language  imported  by  Ofiris  into  India  is  ftill  preferved  under  the  name  of  the 
^Shanfcrit. — It  is  the  Sacred  Language  of  India;  new  underftood  only  by  the  Bra- 
-_jj5i,ns.— 'It  is  to  be  prcfumed,  that  the  Language  of  Egypty^'afe'ifc'W^At'as'-f'ar'is'Isdia, 
5]went  alfo  to  the  neighbouring  countries. — Bur,  hefides  prefuiirtption,  there  is'  proof 
,  fcotn  facls. — ^This  furniflicd  by  M.  Gebolin  in  his  Monde  Primitif. — He,  and  Bullet 


CONTENTS. 

in  his  Celtic  Diftionary,  maintrun,  that  there  wns  a'j^nrninve  Language,  from  whick 
.  all  the  other  Languages  on  earth  are  derived  — ^That  fuch  a  Language  did  exift,  M. 
;  Gebelin  has  proved,  by  coniparing'the  ferveral  Languages  iitl  the  world  with  one  ano- 
ttier,»— the  European,  Afiatie,"S!id  Ameftcan,  Languages  compared  together  by  hfrn. 
— America  peopled  from  the  north  eafl  parts  of  Afia. — A  curious  fa<St  related  of  a 
fingular  cuftom  of  the  Egyptians  which  the  Americans  have  adopted. — The  method 
which  M.  Gebelin  has  folltiwcd  in  making  this  comparifon,  very  proper,  by  findmg 
out  the  radical  words  in  the  feveral  Languages. — Of  the  difference  of  found  oit  deri- 
vative words  from  their  radicals  in  the  fame^  Language;  but  this  difference^'much 
greater  in  different  dialefts  of  that  Language. — An  exaft  account,  digefted  into 
tables,  given  by  Gebelin,  of  the  changes  of  derivative  words  from  the  original. — 
The  Gitange  of  vowels  in  the  derivative  LanatiagesVhbt'fb  grea^'aS "of  cbnlonants : — 
TJae  reafon  for  this. — But  confonants  alfo  ctianged.^ — This'  iiiafees'  the  difference  fo 
great  betwixt  the  original  and  derivative  Langn^ges.-^Of  the  rnoriofyllables  of  the 
Chincfe  Language ;  many  of  them  to  be  found  in  other  Languages,  and  particularly 
in.  tl\e^Coptic.-^Thus  proved,  that  there  was  a  time  when  there  was  only  brit lian- 
guage  on  the  face  of  the  earth. — The  author,  before  he  read  M.  Gebelin,  was  of  a- 
nother  opinion. — What  that  Language  w^s  W.  Gebelin  has  not  determined. — All  the 
Laiiguages  of  Europe,  he  fays,  are  derived  from  the  Celtic — But  the  Celts  did  not 
invent, theijr  Laiigiiage,  nor  the  Goths  theirs.^T>-The  Gothic  a  more  perfe(St  Language 
in  fome  refp;(Et  than  the  Latin. — Any  nation  ipeasing  a  language  of  art,  only  proves 
that  the  original  Language  came  to  them  in  greater  pcrfeftioii  than  to  other  nations. 
— The  rejembiancc  betwixt  the  Celtic  and  other  Languages,  no  proof  that  thefc 
Languages  are  derived  from  the  Celtic. — The  Greek  Language  was  certainly  not  de- 
rived from  the, Celtic,  but  came  directly  from  E^ypi. — If  the  Greeks  did  not  invent 
their  Language,  bow  can  we  fuppofe  that  tht  Celts  or  Goths  did. — The  progrels  of 
the  formation  of  the  Language  of  art,  in  Eg7pt,  muft  nave  begun,  with  words  of  one 
fyllable. — In  that  way  the  Chinefe  monofyliabic  Language  is  to  be  accounted  foi. — 
Thefe  monofyllabicdl  words  were  the  roots  of  the  primitive  Language. — A  great 
queftion.  By  what  rule,  or  whether  by  any  rule,  theie  roots  were  formed  } — The 
letters,  according  to  M.  Gebelin,  are  to  be  contjdered  as  a  kind  of  roots. — The  Au- 
thors opinion  in  this  matter  : — Nothing,  even  among  men,  done  without  fome  rea» 
fon. — Many  words  formed  from  the  found. — Even  ideas  maybe  exprefTed  by  a  found, 
which  is  fuppoled  to  have  fome  analogy  to  ihem. — The  Shanlcrit,  according  to  Fa- 
ther Pons,  a  moft  wonderful  piece  of  art  aud  fcience. — It  analyfes  the  particular 
ideas,  expreffed  by  the  words,  into  the  general  ideas  from  whicli  they  arife. — Thefe 
exprefTed  by  raouofyllables,  which  are  the  roots  of  the  Language. — Monofyllablcs 
being  the  fimpleft  words  are  the  fitteft  for  Derivation  and  Compofition. — From  thefc 
z-oots,  in  long  order  and  with  gre.it  variety,  are  deduced,  according  to  fixed  and  de- 
VoL.  IV,  d  terrainatfi 


CONTENTS, 

terminate  rules,  the  words  of  the  Shanfcrit,  expreffing  the  particular  ideas,  falling 
under  the  general  ideas  denoted  by  the  i-oots. — Examples  of  this  given  by  Pons  the 
Jefuit : — a  knowledge  of  the  roots,  and  of  the  Grammar  of  the  Language,  together 
with  the  rules  of  derivation  and  compofition,  will  enable  a  perfon  to  form  a  Lan- 
guage of  his  own,  which  will  be  underftood  by  thofe  who  know  the  art  by  which  the 
Language  is  formed. — The  Jefuit  Pons's  account,  of  this  Language,  confirmed  by 
Mr  Wilkins. — This  Language  the  work  of  philofophers. — It  may  be  compared  to  the 
Categories  of  Archytas. — The  Greek  and  Latin,  though  not  fo  perfeft  as  the  Shan- 
fcrit, wonderful  works  of  art, — connefting,  by  means  of  Derivation,  Compofition,  and 
Flection,  fome  millions  of  words. — Fledtion  the  greateft  of  thefe. — Its  wonderful  ef- 
fects in  nouns  and  verbs. — In  the  Greek  verb  upwards  of  a  thoufand  variations. — 
M.  Gebelin,  though  learned  in  Languages,  knew  fo  little  of  the  philofophy  of  Lan- 
guage, as  to  maintain  that  men  fpeak  naturally,  and  have  from  nature  the  ideas  they 
exprefs  by  the  words. — According  to  him,  two  perfons  meeting,  who  had  learned 
no  Language,  would  hold  communication  together  by  fpeech,  and  underftand  one 
another. — ^This  the  primitve  Language  of  Gebelin : — According  to  him,  all  other  arts, 
as  well  as  Language,  natural  to  men  ;  and  they  have  from  the  beginning  the  know- 
ledge of  aftronomy,  and  of  all  the  arts  of  life — No  natural  ftate  according  to  Gebe- 
lin, the  Savages,  at  prefent  to  be  found,  being  men  degenerated. — The  Author's 
fyftem,  from  antient  books,  very  difterent  from  Gebelin's ; — though  an  admirer  of 
Greek  learning,  and  a  reader  of  many  books  in  that  Language,  M.  Gebelin  has  not 
read  their  philofophers,  who  would  have  taught  him  the  progrefs  of  man  from  capa^ 
city  to  energy. — Without  Greek  philofophy,  no  natural  talents  or  application  will  a- 
vail. — Contradiction  in  Gebelin's  fyftem  ; — it  is  refuted  by  the  faft,  of  deaf  perfons 
being  likewife  dumb,  and  being  taught  to  fpeak  with  great  labour  and  much  diflicul- 
ty. — Even  the  moft  barbarous  Language  a  work  of  art,  if  the  words  exprefs  all  the 
ideas  of  the  fpeaker,  and  are  connected  together. — Men,  in  the  natural  ftate,  witli- 
out  the  ufe  of  fpeech,  are  in  the  cafe  of  dumb  men  : — They  could  not  teach  them- 
f^.lves  : — But  the  Dxmon  Kings  of  Egypt,  who  invented  Language,  muft  firll  have 
taught  themfelves,  and  then  others. — Progrefs  of  the  art  even  in  Egypt. — The  firft 
vords  there  monofyllables. — ^The  Language  in  that  ftate  went  to  China  : — When  a 
Language  of  words  of  feveral  fyllables  was  invented,  thefe  monofyllables  were  made 
the  roots  of  the  Language. — In  this  way  the  Shanfcrit  was  formed. — But  the  Chinefc 
have  preferved  the  Language,  in  monofyllables,  as  they  got  it. — The  great  imperfec- 
tion of  that  Language. — The  queftion.  In  what  country  Gebelin's  primitive  Lan- 
guage was  Invented  } — It  could  be  no  where  but  in  Egypt,  where  the  D;emon  Kings 
reigned.— ^rhe  Jews  had  no  Language  revealed  to  them, — no  country  in  fuch  a  ftate 
of  civility,  when  Ofiris  went  to  India,  that  they  could  have  invented  the  moft  bai^.^ 
barous  Language — Of  the  way  the  Egyptian  Language  was  communicated  to  other 

nations. 


CONTENTS, 

nations,  and  how  it  came  to  be  fo  barbarous  as  it  was  fpoken  by  feme  nations. — Ic 
was  conveyed  to  India  by  Ofiris,  and  by  him  dcpofited  in  the  hands  of  the  Bramins, 
who  have  preferved  it  with  little  or  no  corruption,  but  have  not  improved  it. — It  al- 
fo  went  to  Greece,  but  not  in  fo  great  purity  as  to  India, — was  preferved  there  by 
Homer  and  the  other  poets. — Next  to  the  Greek  Langu.ige,  it  is  in  the  greateft  pu- 
rity in  the  Celtic. — This  proved  by  its  refemblance  to  the  Latin, — and  by  the  name 
of  Shanfcrit  being  a  Celtic  word. — Surprifing  that  in  fome  of  the  moft  barbarous  Lan  - 
guages,  a  good  deal  of  the  art  of  the  antient  Egyptian  Language  fhould  be  preferved, 
— as  in  the  Gothic ; — even  in  the  Lan^^uage  of  Greenland  there  is  a  dual  number.—- 
How  fo  many  Languages,  differing  fo  much  from  one  another,  fhoukl  be  all  derived 
from  one  primitive  Language,  accounted  for. — The  variety  made  in  the  two  Egyp- 
tian alphabets  itill  more  wonderful  — Objeftion  anfwered,  that  it  was  not  confiftent 
with  the  wifdom  and  goodnefs  of  God,  to  confine  tlie  invention  of  Language  to  one 
country. — That  country  fufficient  for  the  purpofe. —  The  Variety  of  the  fyllem  of  na- 
ture did  not  admit  that  many  countries  Ihould  be  fo  well  fitted  for  that  purpofe. 

Objeftion,  that  all  the  people  on  earth  have  not  learned  the  ufe  of  fpeech,  particu- 
larly the  Ourang  Outangs. — But  they  may  rtill  learn  it,  as  fome  wild  people  in  Ethi- 
opia have  done.  Pane  "j-j-* 

CHAP.      VI. 

The  hiftory  of  Religion  fitly  fubjoined  to  the  hiflory  of  arts  and  fciences. In  what 

fenfe  Rehgion  is  natural  to  man  :— It  does  not  belong  to  him  in  his  natural  ftate,  nor 
even  when  he  lives  in  herds, — but  only  in  the  civilifed  ftate ; — not  even  in  the  firft 
ages  of  civility. — This  proved  both  by  the  reafon  of  the  thing,  and  by  three  exam- 
ples.— The  knowledge  of  a  God  arofe  from  man's  ftudying  himfelf. — Th.e  proircf^ 
of  that  Itudy,  and  the  reafoning,  by  which  men  were  convinced  of  the  exillence  of 
fuch  a  Being — As  men  formed  the  firft  idea  of  a  God  from  themfelves,  tliey  na- 
turally made  him  like  themielves,  confifting  both  of  body  and  mind,  but  both  more 
excellent  than  theirs. — Egypt  the  country  in  which  Religion  had  its  origin,  as  well 
as  arts  and  fciences. — This  proved  both  by  the  reafon  of  the  thing,  and  the  autho- 
rities of  authors.— Egypt  having  been  governed  fo  long  by  Dasmon  Kings,  tliere 
were  two  Religions  there,  a  Philofophical  Religion,  and  a  Religion  for  the  vulcnr. 
Religion  went  from  Egypt  to  Greece  ;— alfo  to  India,  where  feveral  monuments  of 
the  Religion  of  Egypt  are  to  be  feen  at  this  day.— The  idea  ot  a  God  went  to  other 
countries  as  well  as  to  Greece  and  India,  though  not  the  worflilp  as  prartifcJ  in  E- 
gypt.— A  plurality  of  Gods  according  to  the  firft  Religion  among  men ;— but  one 
principle  among  them,  according  to  the  Religion  both  of  Egypt  and  Greece.— As 
thofe  antient  Gods  were  fuppofcd  to  have  bodies,  they  had  alfo  icnfes  that  were  to- 

"^i^'  b€ 


CONTENTS. 

be  gratified ; — and  their  minds  alio  were  to  be  gained,  in  the  fame  way  as  the  minds 
of  men,  by  things  prefented  to  them. — The  firft  things  oflered  to  the  Gods  were  the 

fruits  of  the   earth The  memory  of  thefe   offerings  preferved  both  in  Egypt  and 

Greece. — ^When  men  began  to  eat  tleih,  animals  were  offered  to  the  Gods. — This 
<ione  fo  conftantly  when  they  killed  animals,  that  to  kill  was  faid  to  facr'ifice. — This 
enjoined  in  fome  nations  as  a  duty, — particularly  among  the  Jews. — The  Gods,  by 
thofe  lacrifices,  were  fuppofed  to  have  their  fmell  gratified,  and  their  ears  pleafed  by 
the  mufic  accompanying  tli£  facrifice — ^Their  eyes  alfo  pleafed  by  magnificent  Tem- 
pies,  Altars,  and  Proceffions. — In  return  for  thefe  offerings,  it  was  expefted  that  the 
Gods  would  give  them  fuccefs  in  war  and  their  other  occupations  ; — and  would  re- 
veal to  them  future  events,  which  they  fuppofed  was  done  in  many  different  ways. 
Amono  the  Jews,  Mofes  was  obliged  to  eftabliili  a  Religion  refembling  the  Reli- 
gion of  the  times  : — They  were  incapable  of  receiving  any  other. — This  the  ftate  of 
Religion  in  the  firft  ages  of  the  world,  before  arts  and  fciences  had  made  any  confider- 
able  progrefs.— But  after  arts  and  fciences  were  improved,  Religion  wore  a  very  different 

face. All   Arts,  Sciences,  and  Pliilofophy,  came  originally  from  Egypt. — From  E- 

t'vpt  they  went  to  Greece. — Of  the  great  difcoveries  made  by  Philofophy  in  Theolo- 

oy, Of  the  Platonic  Doiftrine  of  the  Trinity. — The  firft,  fecond,  and  third  perfons 

of  that  Trinity  explained. — An  error  fhown  in  our  Engllfh  tranflation,  with  refpect 

to  the  fecond  perfon  of  the  Trinity. — Of  Plato's  da£h-ine  with  refpeft  to  a  ftate  of 

pre-exiftence,  and  a  future  ftate  of  rewards  and  punifhments. — ^The  Religion  of  the 

Phllofophers  of  Egypt  brought  to  Greece,  and  from  Greece  to  Italy, — where  it  was 

much  cultivated  among  the  Romans. — The  popular  Religion  of  Egypt  alfo  came  to 

Greece  and  Italy. — The  opinions  of  the  Phllofophers  muft  have  had  an  influence 

even  upon  the  opinions  of  the  world. — Of  the  ftate  of  Religion  at  the  time  when 

our  Saviour  came  to  the  Earth. — ^The  underftanding  of  men  fo  much  then  unproved, 

that  thev  had  formed  the  idea  of  Beings  fuperior  to  themfelves. — But  their  ideas  of 

fuch  Beings  very  grofs. — By  the  advances  made  in  Sciences  and  in  Philofophy,  men 

were  difpofed  to  receive  a  purer  Religion  when  our  Saviour   came  to   the  world. — 

The  days  of  ignorance  were  then  over,  as  St  Paul  has  faid  in  his  fpeech  to  the 

Athenians. An  account  given  of  that  fpeech. — It  contains  the  fyftem  of  pure  The- 

ifin  and  wives  a  defcription  of  the  true  God. — Of  this  God,  even  the  vulgar,  among 
the  Athenians,  appear  at  that  time  to  have  had  fome  idea. — St  Paul  fays  nothing  of 
the  particular  doccrines  of  Chriftianity,  except  in  one  verfe,  where  he  fpeaks  of  the 
refurreclion  of  Jefus  Chrlft. — This  laughed  at  by  the  Athenians, — though  probably 
the  Egyptians  believed  in  the  refurreftion  of  the  body. — St  Paul  would  explain  to  his 
Converts  the  fundamental  doftrines  of  Chriftianity,  as  ly?,  The  doctrine  of  the  Tri- 
nity, of  which  an  explanation  is  already  given  in  this  chapter. — ia*;.  The  docb-inc  of 
the  eternal  generation  of  the  Son  of  God, — of  which  an  explanation  is  here  given. — 


CONTENTS. 

^tio,  T\\t  incarnation,  which  is  likewife  here  explained. — Another  important  doc- 
trine of  Chriftianity  is,  that   we  muft  not  believe  that  we  can  be  happy  in  this  life, 

but  muft  look  forward  to  the  next. — This  inculcated  by  our  Saviour He  has  alfo 

provided  for  our  happinefs  in  this  life,  if  we  will  obey  the  lart  precept  he  gave 
his  Diiciples,  to  love  one  another. — The  Chriilian  Religion,  more  a  Religion  of  Love 
than  any  other ; — yet,  by  the  abufe  of  it,  has  produced  more  di^entions  among  men, 
and  more  crimes  than  any  other  Religion. — Of  the  end  of  this  World,  and  the  re- 
Itoration  of  things. — This  a  doiSbine  of  Antient  Philofophy,  with  which  the  revela- 
tion by  Jefus  Chriil  agrees. — According  to  it,  that  new  World  is  not  at  a  very  great 
diftance. — ^^fhis  proved  in  the  fequel  of  this  work,  by  Siowmg  that  not  only  the 
minds  and  bodies  of  men  are  degenerated,  but  their  numbers  decreafed. — ^fhus 
is  proved  that  our  Saviour  came  to  the  world  in  the  fulnefs  of  time,  when  it  was  pro- 
per he  fliould  come. — If  he  had  come  fooner,  and  in  the  days  of  ignorance,  his  doc- 
trine cauld  not  have  been  received — This  proved  by  the  example  of  barbarous  na- 
tions, who  cannot  be  converted  to  the  Chriftian  Religion  ; — and  of  the  Jews  them- 
felves. — The  fingular  circumll:ance  of  the  Jews,  that  they  are  a  nation  without  a  coun- 
try : — They  are  in  all  nations,  and  of  no  nation. —  The  worft  thing  m  the  Heathen 

Religion  was  their  facrifices. — Thcfe  muft  have  been  offenflve  to  the  true  God: 

But  that  they  fliould  be  praftifed,  was  neceflary  among  people  who  had  not  an  under- 

ftanding  fo  cultivated,  as  to  make  them  capable  of  underftanding  true  Religion It  was 

indulged  even  to  the  Jews.— The  reafon  for  this  indulgence.~But  after  the  coming  of 
our  Saviour,  Sacrifices,  Rites,  and  Ceremonies,  were  laid  afide,  and  a  pure  Religion 
«ftBbliflied,- — but  not  all  Rites  were  laid  aude,  and  particularly  not  Mufic. — Of  the 
effects  of  Mufic  in  exciting  Devotion. — It  ought  to  be  more  pradiifed  by  the  Miffio- 
naries  among  the  barbarous  nations. — Of  the  prefent  ftate  of  Religion  on  this  earth. 
— Chriftianity  the  Religion  of  Europe, — alio  of  Egypt,  in  the  country  about  Alex- 
andria.— ^There  both  the  Jewifh  and  Chriftian  Sabbaths  are  obferved. — In  the  Well- 
<rn  part  of  Afia,  Mahomedifm  prevails ; — in  the  Eaftern,  the  popular  Religion  of 
Egypt  which  went  to  India. — The  Philofophical  Religion  alfo  went  there,  as  the  Bra- 
mins  believe  in  the  Trinity, — Conciufion  of  the  Hiftory  of  Religion,  Government, 
Arts,  and  Sciences. — ^Thefe  three  comprehend  the  Hiftory  of  Man,  as  from  them 
proceed  all  the  operations  of  the  intelleft  of  man. — What  is  commonly  called  Hiftory, 
is  not  what  the  Author  calls  a  Hiftory  of  man; — nor  is  it  a  matter  of  fcience. 

Page  363 
Appendix.  p.  403 

PREFACE. 


R       E       F      A       C       E. 


THE  fubjed  of  this  volume  is  the  Hijlory  of  Man^  by  which  I 
mean,  not  what  is  commonly  called  Hiftory,  that  is  the  Hif- 
tory  of  Nations  and  Empires,  but  the  Hiftory  of  the  Species  Man^ 
a  work  of  very  great  extent  and  variety;  for  man  is  not  only 
diftinguiflied  from  the  other  animals  of  this  earth,  by  being  the  no- 
bleft  animal;  but  he  isalfothe  moft  various,  not  only  in  his  compofi- 
tion,  being,  as  the  antients  faid,  a  microcofme  or  little  world^  con- 
taining the  intelledtual,  the  animal,  and  vegetable,  life,  but  alfo  by 
his  having  palled  through  a  greater  variety  of  ftates  than  any  other 
animal  we  know.  It  is,  therefore,  as  I  have  faid,  a  work  of  fucli 
extent  and  variety,  that  no  author,  ancient  or  modern,  has  fo  much 
as  attempted  it.  Ariftotle  has  written  a  moft  comprehenfive  and 
moft  various  work,  which  he  entitles  the  Hijlory  of  Animals :  And  it 
is  a  work  of  fuch  extent  and  variet)'',  that  if  he  had  not  educated  the 
Conqueror  of  the  world,  I  am  perfuaded  he  never  could  have  execut- 
ed it;  for  it  was,  as  we  are  told,  by  the  information  which  Alexander 
procured  him  from  difterent  countries,  that  he  was  able  to  give  an  ac- 
count of  fo  very  many  different  animals;  feveral  of  which,  I  believe,  arc 
ftill  unknown  to  us,  notwlthftanding  the  opportunity  of  information 
we  have  had  by  travellers,  and  by  commerce.  In  this  work  Ariftotle  ha* 
given  us  what  maybe  very  properly  called  a  Hiftory  of  the  Animals, 
of  which  he  treats  :  For  he  not  only  has  defcribed  their  bodies  and 
their  animal  economy,  but  he  has  given  us  what  he  calls  their  manners^ 

that 


li.  PREFACE. 

that  is,  their  afTedions  and  difpofitions.  But  as  to  Muff,  though  he 
has  mentioned  feveral  particulars  concerning  him,  in  which  he  agrees 
or  differs  from  the  brutes,  he  has  given  us  nothing  that  can  be  cal- 
led a  hiftory  of  the  fpecies.  Nor  does  he  any  where,  in  this  great 
work,  give  us  any  particular  account  of  the  feveral  different  ftates 
through  which  man  has  paffed,  though,  from  the  dehaition  he  has 
given  of  man*,  it  is  evident  he  believed  that  he  was  not  always  the 
fame  animal  that  he  now  is.  In  modern  times,  I  know  only  one 
work  that  can  be  called  the  hiftory  of  any  one  fpecies  of  animals, 
but  which,  the  author  has  very  modeftly  not  entitled  tbe  Kijlory  of 
that  animal,  but  only  Memoirs  that  may  ferve  for  compofing  fnch  a 
hijlory.  The  work  I  mean  is  that  of  a  French  author,  Raumeur, 
who  has  given  us  an  account  of  flies  with  four  wings,  under  the  title 
of  Memoires pour  Serv'ir  a  V Hifloire  des  Mouches  a  quatre  Ailes. 
But  the  hiftory  of  fuch  animals  as  flies,  with  two  or  four  -wings,  or 
of  even  the  moft  eminent  animals  of  the  brute  kind,  fuch  as  ele- 
phants, horfes,  lions,  or  tygers,  is  not  to  be  compared  with  the  hif- 
tory of  our  own  Jpec/es,  being  neither  of  fuch  curiofuy,  nor  of  fuch 
importance  for  us  to  know. 

It  may  be  thought,  that  in  a  work  of  philofophy,  fuch  as  this,  I  have 
beftowed  too  much  time  upon  hiftory  and  fa£ls.  But  it  is  impoffi- 
ble  that  the  philofophy  of  man  can  be  underftood  without  firft  know- 
ing his  hiftory:  Nor,  without  that  knowledge,  can  any  fatisfadtory 
account  be  given  of  the  origin  of  evil;  to  account  for  which,  is  the 
chief  defign  of  this  part  of  my  work. 

I  will  only  further  add,  that,  though  I  may  not  have  had  genius, 
learning,  or  leifure,  fufficient  to  execute  properly  fo  great  a  work,  the 
greateft  and  nobleft  of  the  hiftorical  kind,  and  which  lays  the  foun- 
dation of  the  philofophy  of  man,  and  alfo  is  of  great  importance  in- 

theology, 

•  Sec  what  I  ha-ve  fiid  of  that  definition  in  the  beginning  of  this  vokimc. 


1    ^    T  -    , 

PREFACE.  111. 

theology,  I  hope  I  ihall  have  at  leaft  the  merit  of  exciting  others 
of  greater  abiUties,  and  more  leifure,  to  undertake  it ;  and  if  fo,  I 
fhall  have  deferved  well  of  the  learned  world,  and,  I  think  I  may 
add,  of  mankind. 

As  to  the  ftile  of  this  work,  I  have  endeavoured  to  make  it  fuch, 
as  I  think  the  ftile  of  didadlic  writing  Ihould  be,  that  is,  a  ftile  by 
which  the  attention  of  the  reader  is  not  drawn  from  the  fubjeit  nei- 
ther by  ornaments  of  words,  fuch  as  metaphors  and  epithets,  which 
may  amufe  the  fancy,  or  tend  to  excite  the  pafTions  of  the  reader, 
but  are  not  conducive  to  the  fenfe  or  argument ;  nor  by  the  compo- 
fition,  which  fhould  not  ftudy  to  pleai'e  the  ear  by  the  flow  of 
periods,  nor  to  attra<^  the  attention  in  a  more  difagreeable  way,  by 
being  harfli  and  abrupt,  like  the  ftile  of  Tacitus,  and  Ibme  of  his  mo- 
dern imitators.  What,  therefore,  ought  to  be  chiefly  ftudied  in  di-' 
dadlic  v/riting,  is  plainnefs  and  perfpicuity;  the  words  being  all  the 
common  words  of  the  language,  and  the  compofition  eafy  and  na- 
tural. As  to  the  ornaments  of  our  profe  ftile  in  Englifh,  a  man 
who  has  ftudied  the  ftile  of  the  beft  antient  writers,  and  particular- 
ly the  ftile  of  Demofthenes,  as  much  as  I  have  done,  with  the  ob- 
fervations  of  the  Halicarnaflian  upon  that  ftile,  and  upon  ftile  in 
general,  muft  be  convinced  that  it  is  impofllble  to  ornament  our 
Englifti  profe  ftile,  without  making  poetry  of  it,  that  is  adorning 
it  with  Metaphors  and  Epithets ;  for  the  imperfedion  of  our  gram- 
matical art  is  fuch,  as  does  not  admit  of  that  variety  of  arrange- 
ment of  words,  which  is  fuch  a  beauty  in  the  ancient  compofi- 
tion, making  not  only  the  found  of  the  language  more  various  and 
more  pleafant  to  the  ear,  but  giving  a  certain  pofition  to  the  words, 
fuch  as  conveys  the  fenfe  more  clearly  and  forcibly  than  the  fame 
*rords  could  otherwife  do,  as  I  think  I  have  elfewhere  ftiown  *  by 

e  examples 

*  See  Diflertation  3.  annexed  to   vol,  2.  of  Qrigin  of  Language,  and  particularly 
p.  569.  and  following. 


Iv.  P  '  R     E     F    A     C     E. 

examples  from  DemoRhenes;  whofe  language,  for  this  reafon,  I 
think  I  underftand  better  when  I  read  him,  or  when  he  is  well 
read  to  me,  than  what  is  written  even  in  Englifh.  A  man,  how- 
ever, may  write  very  good  orations;  but  he  is  no  orator,  unlefs  he 
can  pronounce  them ;  for  aCiion,  as  Demofthenes  faid,  is  the  firft,  the 
fecond,  and  the  third  quality  of  an  orator.  Now,  of  adion,  I  hold 
pronunciation  to  be  the  chief  part*  ;  for  it  is  by  it  that  the  words  and 
the  fenfe  of  them  are  conveyed  to  the  hearers.  The  pronunciation 
of  the  Greek  language  was  a  thing  of  very  great  art,  requiring  not  only 
a  good  natural  voice,  but  alfo  a  mufical  voice:  For,  in  the  Greek  lan- 
guage, there  was,  as  the  Halicarnaffian  informs  us,  both  melody  and 
rhythm  f;  and,  ainong  other  things  he  praifes  in  the  ftile  of  De- 
mofthenes, he  lays,  'That,  when  the  fubjeEl  requires  it,  his  melody  is 
magnijiccnt  and  his  rhythm  digtiified  X.  Such  a  pronunciation,  ac- 
companied with  all  the  graces  of  action,  muft  have  made  the  ora- 
tions of  Demofthenes,  the  nobleft  produdion  of  an  art,  the  greateft, 
as  well  as  the  moft  ufcful,  among  men  ;  I  mean  the  art  of  language, 
which,  the  Halicarnaffian  fays,  is  the  moft  wonderful^,  though, 
at  the  fame  time,  it  be  the  moft  common  of  all  arts ;  a  propofi- 
tion  which  I  have  endeavoured  to  maintain  through  the  whole  of 
this  work,  and  particularly  in  the  ift  and  4th  chapters  of  the  fecond 
book  of  this  volume.  Such  fpeeches,  therefore,  as  thofe  of  Demof- 
thenes, I  do  not  w^onder  that  people  from  all  parts  of  Greece  came 
to  Athens  to  hear. 

Having,  therefore,  as  I  have  faid,  formed  my  tafte  of  ftile  upon 
the  compofition  of  the  antients,  and  particularly  of  Demofthenes,  I 

could 
*  See  vol.  6.  of  Origin  of  Language,  book  3.  chap.  i.  in  the  beginning, 
f  See  what  I  have  faid  at  great  length  upon  both  of  thefe,  in  vol.  2.  of  the  Origin  of 
Language,  book  2.  chap.  4.  and  5. 

:j:  His  words  are   T«  MtA))  nrnu  ftty»>,»jr^tir)i,    xui  row;  TvSfcov;  tt^iUfiKTixtv;.      Cap.  48. 
De  Adiniranda  vi  dicendi  in  Demoflhene. 
§  Ibid.  cap.  52. 


preface;  v: 

could  not  have  pleafed  myfelf,  nox-  any  of  my  readers  of  good  tafte, 
if  I  had  attempted,  in  a  work  of  this  kind,  to  make,  with  fuch  ma- 
terials as  the  Englifh  language  or  any  other  modern  language  affords, 
what  is  commonly  called  Jine  language;  and  had  not  contented  my- 
felf with  exprefling  in  plain  words,  and  with  a  compofition,  which, 
at  the  fame  time  that  it  is  not  obfcure,  is  not  harfh  or  offenfive  to 
the  ear,  my  thoughts  upon  fubjedts,  which  I  think  of  great  impor-" 
tance,  and  fuch  as  will  certainly  draw  the  attention  of  every  fenfible 
reader. 


errata: 

FigC       3.  line  20.  /o>'  endued  read  moved 

Ariflotle's  read  in  Ariftotle's 

in  Devonflnre  read  at  Hull 

Mechior  read  Melchior 

execretion  read  execration 

whether  read  whither 

at  once  read  once 

2000  read  1200 

And  thus  they  arrived  at  the  number  ien/  read  Which  made 

the  number  tiine.     And  the  next  ftep  was  tO  ten; 
muft  be  an  read  can  be  no 
things  read  thing 


3.  lu 

ae  20. 

6. 

M' 

21. 

II, 

36. 

22. 

40. 

24. 

46. 

6, 

9S- 

23- 

163. 

II. 

315- 

S. 

328. 

21. 

380. 

21. 

"TTTsTuTTT  '         ""■ 

-j;;jorft  I.  ,e»ii.    • 


I   N   T   R    O    DUG   TT5'a 


I    '.  * 


ALL  Philofopby  of  every  km,d  is, the  ki;ipvv.l^ge^f  Caufes  :  But 
the  Firft  Philofophy,  or  Metaphyfics,  as  it  is  called  by  Arif- 
totle,  is  the  knowledge  of  the  Firft  Caufes,  and  the  Firft  Caufe  of  all, 
or  the  Caufe  of  Caufes,  that  i^»..-Deity.-;.This  is  thehlgheftpart  of 
Metaphyfics,' and  which  finiflies  the  fcience.;    It  is  called  Theology; 
the  fubjed  of  it  being  God,  whdm  to  know  is  the  fuihmit  of  know- 
ledge, and  the  perfection  of  human  nature.    But  wemuft  begin  with 
the  works  of  God,  by.iwhifjh  only  he  is  to  be  known  :    For,   as  we' 
ajfi  told  in  [Scripture,,  the'  iovifible.  ithings  of  God  are  clearly  feen, 
being  underftood  by  the  things  that  are  made  *     Tn  tbefe  works,  it 
is,  the  caufes  that  we  are  chiefly,  to  ftudy  ;   for   it  is  through  inferior 
c^fe&  that  we  are  to  afcend  to  the  knowledge   of  the  Firft  Caufe. 
The  caufes  of  every  particular  thing  in  this  univerfe,  or  even  on  this 
earth,  we  cannot  know. or  comprehend.    Uur  knowledge,  therefore. 
Vol.  IV.  A  muft 

•  Paul's  Epift.  to  the  Rooians,  C!iap,  I.  v.  26   . 


i      ,  INTRODUCTION. 

muft  be  confined  to  thofe  that  are  moft  general.  Thefe  are  of 
different  kinds  :  And  therefore  a  general  divifion  of  them  was  necef- 
fiary  ;  which  Ariitotle  has  given  us  into  four  kinds,  the  efficient,  the 
materialy  the  forma?,  and  tire  final.  And,  if  Atiftotle  had  done  no 
more  in  philofophy  than  making  this  diftin<3;ion  of  caufes,  I  fhould 
have  thought  he  had  done  a  great  deal  :  For,  philofophy  being  the 
knowledge  of  caufes,  he  may  be  faid,  by  his  dodtrine  of  caufes,  to 
havCilaid  the  ver-y  foundation  of  philofophy,  as  I  have  elfewhere  ob- 
ferved  *.  Before  Aritlotle,'no  philofopher  of  Greece  appears  to  have 
made  this  diftindion  accurately,  but  to  have  confounded  all  the  four 
caufes,  and  particularly  the  efficient  and  the  material,  which  made 
the  firft  philofophy  ia  Greece,  before  the  philofophy  ot  Pythagoras 
was  introduced  by  Plato  and  Ariftotle,  no  better  than  downright  ma- 
terialifm  f-  And  fome  of  the  modern  philofophers,  by  endeavour- 
ing to  account  for  the  motions  of  body  from  a  vis  inftta  in  the  body, 
or  from  ethers,  fluids,  and  fubtile  fpirits,  have  advanced  dodrines 
v/hich  have  a  tendency  to  materialifm  :  -For,  if  bcrdies  can  in  any 
\yay  move  themfelves,  there  is  an  end  of  the  fyftcm  of  the:fm  J. 

The  firft  of  the  caafes  I  havs  named  is  the  Efficient,  by  whofe  ope-*- 
rations  every  thing  in  the  material  world  is  produced.  This  caufe  is^ 
what  I  call  7mnd;  and  I  divide  it  int6  fouf  kinds  ;  for  it  is  either  the  in- 
telledtual,  the  animal,  the  vegetable  mind,  or  that  mind  which  I  call' 
the  elemental,  and  which  is  the  principle  of  motion  in  all  the  bodies 
on  this  earth,  not  only  the  organized,  fuch  as  the  animal  and  vege- 
table, but  the  unorganized,  fuch  as  the  minerals.  Thefe  feveral 
minds  I  have  been  at  great  pains  to  diRinguifli   from  one  another  in 

different 

*  See  Vol.  II.  of  this  Work,  Book  iv.  Chap.  4.  in  the  beginning 

-f  Pref.ice  to  Vol.  III.  p.  12. 

J^  Vol.  II.  Book  iv.   Chap.  3.  in  the  beginning. 


INTRODUCTION.  3 

different  parts  of  the  three  firft  volumes  of  this  work,  particularly 
in  vol.  I.  p.  218;  and  the  difterences  I  have  fhortly  recapitulated  in 
the  third  volume,  p.  20.  Of  the  frrft  kind  of  thefe  minds  is  that 
Great  Mind,  from  which  all  other  minds,  and  all  things  in  this  uni- 
verfe,  derive  their  origin  ;  and,  among  other  things,  all  other  intel- 
ligences in  the  univeri'e.  The  other  three  minds  ad  by  intelligence, 
but  they  have  it  not  in  themfelves  ;  therefore,  though  they  ad  for 
a  certain  end  or  purpofe,  it  is  without  knowledge  of  that  end,  with- 
out confcioufnefs,  without  intelligence,  delibeYation,  or  intention, 
and  therefore  neceffarily  *.  Thefe  three  minds,  thus  ading  without 
intelligence,  conftitute  what  the  antient  philofophers  call  Nature  f: 
And  thus  the  antient  philofophers  diftinguifhed  God  from  Natiire ; 
two  words  that  are  in  ev-ery  body's  mouth,  but  no  body  can  diftin- 
guifh  them  accurately  who  has  not  learned  the  antient  philofophy. 

Of  thefe  three  minds,  the  two  firft,  viz.  the  animal  and  vegetable, 
our  modern  philofophers  acknowledge,  and  can  diftinguilh  from  one 
another.  But  the  third  kind  of  mind  appears  to  be  utterly  unknown 
to  them:  Yet  they  obferve  that  bodies  are  moved,  which  are  neither 
animals  nor  vegetables.  This  has  led  to  two  great  errors :  The  firft 
is,  that  body  is  endued  by  a  vis  infita,  a  power  efiential  to  it  j  or, 
in  other  words,  that  body  moves  itfelf :  And  this  is  the  error  which 
Sir  Ifaac  Newton  has  fallen  into  in  his  Principia,  and  which,  as  I 
have  (liown  elfewhere:}:,  hasadired  tendency  to  materiallfm,  or  what 
is  the  fame  thing,  atheifm  ;  though,  certainly.  Sir  Ifaac  did  not  for- 
fee  this  corifequence  of  his  dodrine,  otherwife  he  never  would  have 
maintained  it.  The  other  error  is,,  that  God  is  the  immediate  aur 
thor  of  all  the  motions  of  unorganized  bodies,  by  which  they  arc 
moved  up  or  down,  or  in  a  ftraight  line  :    Now,   if  God  be  the  im- 

A  2  •'  mediate 

•Vol.  I.  p.  2.18.  ,        .  .  - 
t  Ibid.     See  alfo  Vol.  II.  p.  360. 

X  V0I..I.  p.  531.  546.  554.— Vol.  II.  p. -.3 19.  334.  541.  ^yz."- Vol.. III.   Chap.  I. 
of  Appendix. 


4  INTRODUCTION. 

mediate  caufe  of  the  movement  of  body,  he  muft  be  incorporated 
with  it ;  for  we  have  no  conception  of  mind  moving  body  other- 
wife  * :  And  if,  in  this  way,  he  move  unorganized  bodies,  there  is 
no  reafon  why  he  may  not,  in  the  fame  way,  move  organized  bo- 
dies ;  fo  that  thefe  philofophers  may  deny  the  exiflence  of  the  ani- 
mal and  vegetable  minds  as  well  as  of  the  elemental,  and  make  God 
the  immediate  author  of  all  the  motions  in  the  univerfe:  And,  ac- 
cordingly, this  is  the  dodlrine  both  of  Spinoza  and  of  Dr  Prieflley; 
and  they  carry  it  fo  far  as  to  maintain,  that  God  is  the  immediate 
author  of  our  motions  too ;  fo  that  we  have  no  mind  in  us  any 
more  than  animals,  vegetables,  or  unorganized  bodies:  And  I  think 
they  argue  more  confidently  than  Mr  Baxter,  who  fays  that  God  is 
only  the  immediate  author  of  the  motions  of  unorganized  bodies  f. 

It  is  to  be  obferved  that  this  mind,  the  principle  of  motion  ia 
unorganifed  bodies,  is  univerfal  in  nature,  even  in  animals  that  have 
intelleft,  fuch  as  man.  And  therefore,  as  it  is  a  principle  which  goes 
through  all  nature,  and  is  eflential  to  all  natural  bodies,  Ariftotle 
calls  it  by  the  name  oi  Nature  %. 

Andl 

*  See  Yol.  lir..p.  j2(5.  and  Vol.  II.  p.  47, 

f  See  Vol.  III.  p.  8.  and  Vol.  I.  p.  207. 

X  See  Vol.  II.  p.  46.. and  51. ;  Seealfo  Vol.  I,  p.  85,  205.  230.  and  foUowuig,  m 
which  I  have  given  a  particular  account  of  this  kind  of  mind.  And.  from  the  au- 
thorities there  quoted,  and  particularly  the  authority  of  Proclus,  quoted  in  p.  51.  of 
Vol.  II.  it  appears  that  the  Platonic  philofophers  confidered  it  as  the  ar.'ima  mundi, 
which  iperva.tled.all>  bodies,  organized  and  unorganized,  in  fliort  the  whole  material 
world;  and  he  further  makes  it  the  Idea  of  every  thing,  which  gives  life  to  tlie  moft 
lifelefs  thing,  and  makes  things  which  would  otherwife  perifh,  immortal :  So  that  it 
is  plainly  the  Idea  of  Timaeus,  in  his  treatife  De  Atiima  Mwidi,  which  joined  with 
Matter,  he  fays  conftitutes  Body,  that  is,  a  fubftance  which  is  apprehended  by  our 
finfes.'   Add!  if  we  fuppofe  it  to  proceed  from  a  Divine  Seipg,  that.bejng  muft  be  the 

Third 


INTRODUCTION.  s 

And  here  we  may  obferve  how  wonderful  a  compofition  the  ani- 
mal man  is;  for  there  are  in  him,  befides  body,  all  the  i'everal  minds 
1  have  mentioned,  the  intelleflual,  the  animal,  the  vegetable,  and  the 
elemental,  that  is,  every  thing  which  is  to  be  found  in  the  great 
world  :  And  therefore  he  is  very  properly  called  by  the  antients  a 
IVIicrocofm,  or  litlh  zvorld*.  And  thefe  four  minds  in  man,  I  have 
no  doubt,  were  the  famous  TgrpaxTuj  of  the  Pythagoreans  ;  which 
was  thought  fo  great  a  myftery  of  philofophy,  that  the  Pythago- 
reans fwore  by  him,  who  firft  difcovered  to  them  the  rgxpaxTi/?, 
*"  Eternal Jburce^^  as  they  faid,  ''  of  evcr-foiving  nature '[.''  AuJ  thisr 
may  fuffice,  by  way  of  recapitulation  of  what  i  have  faid  at  great 
length  in  the  two  firft  volumes  of  this  work  concerning  mind,  the 
efficient  caufe  of  all  things. 

As  to  the  Material  caufe,  1  have  treated  of  it  in  the  fitft  chapter  of 
the  fecond' book  of  the  firft  volume,  where  I  have  Ihown  that  the 
antients  made  a  diftii:dlion,  unknown  in  modern  philofophy,  be- 
twixt matter  and  body  ;  for  the  antients  abftradled  from  body  all 
its  qualities,  even  its  dunenfions,  in  the  fame  manner  as  geometers 
abftradl  from  figures  their  furfaces  and  their  lines  ;  and  even  from  a 
line  its  termination,  which  they  call  a  point,  and  fay  that  it  has  no 
dimenfions  [f.  So  that,  however  whimfical  this  abftradion,  made  by 
antient  metaphyficians,  of  matter  from  body,  may  feem  to  be,  it  is 
not  more  whimfical  than  the  abftradion  made  by  geometers  of  a  point, 

or 

Third  Perfon  of  Plato's- Trinhy.  And  if,  further,  we  fuppofe  this  Divine  Principle 
to  be  the  author,  not  only  of  the  motion  of  all  bodies,  but  of  all  the  aftions  of  in- 
telligent beings,  fuch  as  man,  then  it  may  be  held  to  be  the  Third  Perfon  of  the 
Ghriftian  frinity. 

*  Vol.  II.  p.  1 3(5. . 

•j-  Ibid,  and  Vol.  III.  p.  12.. 
^  See  Vol.  I.  p.  50.  and  5.1; . 


6  INTRODUCTION. 

or  thing  having  no  parts,  from  a  line.  But  further,  as  it  is  admitted 
by  all  philofophers,  that  all  the  bodies  on  this  earth,  however  dif- 
ferent in  appearance,  are  refolvable  into  four  •elemental  bodies,  earth, 
water,  air,  and  fire,  there  appears  to  be  nothing  in  the  nature  of 
things  to  hinder  thefe  four  from  being  refolved  into  one  matter 
common  to  them  all.  And  if  it  be  true,  as  I  believe  it  is,  that  thofe 
elements  change  into  one  another,  there  muft  neceflarily  be  in 
them  fome  common  matter,  vs'hich,  by  afluming  different  forms,  be- 
comes fire,  air,  earth,  or  water  *. 

As  to  the  Formal  caufe,  it  is  explained  at  great  length  in  Archy- 
tas  the  Pythagorean's  work,  irspi  rov  iravroi^  the  fubje(5l  of  which  is, 
tiniverfal  forms ^  as  I  call  them,  (for  generals  are  the  fubjed  of  all 
fciences,  but  unmerfuls  are  the  proper  fubjed  of  metaphyfics),  and 
Ariftotle's  book  of  Categories,  where  we  have  all  the  different  caufes 
of  that  kind  enumerated  and  reduced  to  the  number  of  lo.  It  is 
perhaps  the  greateft  work  of  fcience  that  ever  was  compofed  ;  and 
indeed  it  is  the  foundation  of  all  fcience,  fince,  without  it,  there  can- 
not be  any  complete  definition  f.  It  is  fuch  a  difcovery  as,  I  think, 
could  not  have  been  made  by  any  fingle  man,  but  only  by  focieties 
of  men,  fuch  as  the  Egyptian  priefts,  who  had  been  cultivating 
fciences  for  thoufands  of  years.  Though  it  treats  only  of  the  forms 
of  things,  yet,  as  thefe  are  fo  infinitely  various,  and  belong  to  every 
thing  in  heaven  or  earth,  making  an  eflential  part  of  the  fyftem  of 
the  univerfe,  they  are  a  very  proper  fubjecl  of  univerfal  philofophy 
or  metaphyfics.  And  accordingly,  Archytas  has  very  properly  en- 
titled his  work,  Of  the  whole  of  things.  And  Ariftotle,  though  he 
has  made  his  book  of  Categories  a  part  of  his  Logic,  and  the  firfk 
part,  for  which,  I  think,  there  was  -a  very  good  reafon,  he  has  like- 
wile  treated  of  them  in  his  Metaphyfics. 


The 


*  See  Vol.  I,  p.  48. 
t  Ibid.  p.  317. 


INTRODUCTION.  7 

The  only  other  caufe  I  mentioned  is  the  Final  caufe,  which,  though 
It  be  commonly  ranked  by  the  interpreters  of  Ariftotle  as  the  laft 
caufe  *,  is  in  reality  the  firft  and  the  principal ;  for  it  is  for  the  fake 
of  the  end  that  the  efficient  caufe  ads,  the  form  is  given  to  the  thing, 
and  matter  provided  to  receive  that  form  :  It  belongs  to  intelligent 
beings,  and  to  them  only  ;  for  it  is  only  for  an  end  propofed  that 
intelled  ads.  It  is,  however,  very  little  confidered  by  our  modern 
philofophers,  though,  I  think,  it  ought  to  be  the  chief  ftudy  of  all 
philofophy,  and  efpecially  by  thofe  who  cany  their  fpeculations  up 
to  the  firft  Caufe,  the  Author  of  the  univerfe  ;  for  we  cannot  fuffi- 
ciently  admire  his  wifdom  and  goodnefs,  unlefs  we  know  the  final 
caufes  of  things.  I  will  fay  no  more  of  it  here,  as  I  have  treated 
pretty  fully  of  it,  and  of  caufes  in  general,  in  chap.  4.  of  book  4. 
of  vol.  2.  of  this  work  J  alfa  in  vol.  i-  book  1.  chap.  4.  p.  2^. 

In  our  little  world,  as  well  as  In  the  great,  there  are  all  the  four 
caufes,  as  well  as  the  four  minds  I  have  mentioned  :  So  that  in  man 
there  are  not  only  all  the  adive  principles  or  minds  which  form  the 
ivniverfe,  but  all  the  caufes  which  conftitute  it,  and  make  it  what  it 
is  after  it  is  formed.  Of  all  thefe  piinciples  and  caules,  1  have  treat- 
ed at  confiderable  length  in  my  firft  and  fecond  volumes  ;  where, 
befides  what  1  have  faid  of  mind,  I  have  explained  the  nature  of  Mo- 
tion, Energy,  Aclion,  PalTion,  Power,  Habit,  Faculty,  Matter,  and 
Form  t :  And,  in  vol.  i.  book  4.  1  have  treated  of  what  I  call  the 
adjundls  of  Nature,  Time,  Space,  and  P'ace. 

Of  the  third  volum.e,  v?hich  I  hav-e  prefaced  with  the  biftory  of 
antient  philofophy,  the  fubjed  is  that  moft  wonderful  compound — 
man  ;  of  whofe  compofuion  intelled  is  part.     And,  as   there  is   no 

other 

♦  See  Vol.  II.  p.  214. 
t  See  Vol.  I.  p.  46, 


8  INTRODUCTION. 

other  Intelledual  being  on  this  earth,  it  is  only  by  the  fludy  of  him 
that  we  can  afcend  to  the  knowledge  of  fupreme  intelligence.  It  is 
therefore,  as  I  have  faid  *,  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  the  feven  wife 
men  of  Greece,  when  they  joined  all  their  wits  together,  could  pro- 
duce no  greater  or  better  fruit  of  their  wifdom,  than  what  they  pre- 
fented  to  their  God,  and  infcribed  on  his  temple  at  Delphi;  I  mean, 
the  precept,  Kriow  thyjelf'\^  a  precept  not  only  of  the  greatefl;  utili- 
ty in  the  pradice  of  life,  but  which  leads  up  to  the  higheft  know- 
ledge of  which  man  is  capable,  and  may  be  truly  faid  to  be  the  foun- 
tain of  all  knowledge,  divine  and  human. 

But  though,  in  this  third  volume,  1  have  examined  the  different 
parts  of  the  human  compofuion,  and  diftinguifhed  them,  I  think, 
accurately  from  one  another,  it  is  chiefly  the  animal  part  of  our  na- 
ture that  I  have  confidered.  And  I  have  been  at  pains  to  (how  how 
much  he  is  changed  from  what  he  was  in  antient  times,  in  health, 
ftrength,  and  fize  of  body,  and  as  the  mind  is  fo  intimately 
conneded  wich  the  body,  that  the  mind  aifo  is  degenerated  in  thefe 
later  times.  1  have  alfo  fpoken,  in  the  third  volume,  of  the  natu- 
ral ftate  of  man  \  and  I  will  venture  to  fay,  that  there  are  colled- 
ed  in  that  volume  moie  fads  concerning  man  in  that  ftate, 
or  near  to  that  ftate,  than  are  to  be  found  in  any  one  book  ;  and  as 
what  is  called  philofophy  in  this  age,  is  chiefly  converfant  about 
fads  of  natural  hiftory,  one  (hould  ihink  that  we  fhould  at  leaft  be 
as  curious  about  the  natural  hiftory  of  our  own  fpecies  as  about  the 
natural  hiftory  of  other  animals,  even  fome  of  the  loweft  rank, 
I'licIi  as  v\'orms  and  flies,  upon  which  volumes  have  been  written. 
In  this  fourth  volume  I  propofe  to  fay  a  great  deal  more  upon  the  na- 
tural hidory  of  man,  and  to  trace  his  progrefs  from  the  natural  ftate 

to 


*  Ste  Vol.  II.  p.  90, 

■f-  vva^i  5-s«i'To)'.     Plato's  Pi-otagor.iSj  p.  243.  edit.  Serrani. 


INTRODUCTION.  9 

to  the  (late  of  the  higheft  civilization.     And  this  will  be  the  fubje£l 
of  the  firft  book  of  this  volame,  which  may  be  called  the  Hijlory  of 
Man.     The   fubjeifs;   of  the   fecond   book   will   be  the  Philojopby  of 
Man  :    And   the  third  book  will  conclude  the  Science  of  Metaphy- 
■fiGS  with  Tkeology. 


Vol.  IV.  B  A  N  T I  E  N  T 


A    N    T    I    E    N    T 


ETAPHYSICS 


BOOK  I. 

THE    HISTORY    OF    MAN. 


CHAP.         L 

Of  the  difficulty  of  defining  Man.— 777zj  difficulty  arifes  from  its  be- 
ing neceffary  to  define  ivhat   he  is  by  Nature. — Arifiotle  the  only 
author  ivho  has  defined  Man. — His  definition  explained,  and  the 
full  definition  given  tranfiated  into  Englifjy. — All  the  operations  of 
the  Human  Mind,  the  animal  as  ivell  as  the  intelleoiual,  proceed 
from  Comparifon. — 7 he  ivonderful  chain  of  things  in  Nature,  to  be 
feen  in  the  progrefs  of  the  Human  Mind  — This  definition  of  Man 
not  intelligible  to  thofe  ivho  have  fiudied  only  the  Philofophy  of  Mr 
Locke. — Ihe  author  s  apology  for  pretending  to  teach  a  better  phi- 
lofophy than  any  that  has  been  invented  in  modern  times, — The 
propriety  of  defining  Man  by  his  comparative  faculty  and  the  ca- 
pacity  of  intelleB   and  fcience. — Nothing  faid  of  the  Body  cf  Man 
in  the  definition  ;-^nor  has  Anfiotk  any  "where  elfe  faid  that  hs  is 

B  2  by 


12  ANTIENT   METAPHYSICS.        Book!. 

hy  nature  ereB.  —  'The  contrary  is  noiv  found  to  he  the  cafe. — The 
faiis  by  ivhich  this  is  proved. — fhe  -wonderful  progrefs  of  Man^ 
from  a  quadruped  to  fuch  an  animal  as^he  now  is. — Qf  the  ivorld' 

cf  art  nuhich  he  has  created^ — and  made  all  the  Powers  of  Nature 
fubfervient  to  him. 


WHAT  is  Man,  is  a  queftion  whicH  I  believe  no  perfon  can 
anfwer  who  has  not  ftiidied  the  antient  Philofophy.    What 
makes  the    difficulty    of    anfwering    it,    is,   that  the    definition    of 
every   animal    muft    inform    us    what    the    animal  is    by    Nature, 
independent  of  Art,  that  is,   of  any  quality  he   may  have  acquired 
by  teaching,  or  by  cbfervatioa  and  experience  :    For   if,   by  natural 
inftind,  he  praclifes  any  thing  which  has  the  appearance  of  art,  be- 
ing done  by  rule  and  meafure,  it  may  very  properly  be  made  part 
of  the  definition  of  fuch  an  animal.     For  example,   the  bee   may 
very  properly  be  defined  an  animal  that  makes  honey,  and   lays  it 
up  in  hexagon  cells  ;  but  as  to  man,  I  believe  there  is  no  body  who- 
fuppofes  that  he  pradifes  all  thofe  wonderful  arts,  which  we  fee  him 
pradlife,  by  mere  natural  inftind,  without  teaching,   obfervalion,  or 
experience,  unlefs  he  believe,  as  fome   men    do,  that   man  fpeaks 
by  nature:  For  if,  in  that  way,  he  can  pradife  the  art  of  more  dif- 
ficult invention  than  any  other,  and  of  pradice  too  fo  difficult,  that  if 
v>e  weie  not  in  the  conftant   ufe  of  it   from  our   early  infancy,  we 
could  have  no  ufe  of  it  at  all,   he  may  pradife   e\'ery  other  art   by 
nature.     The  queftion  then  is,  What   is  Man    by  nature,    withou'c 
any  of  the  arts  or  fciences  which  he  has  invented  ?     Now  this  quef- 
tion Ariftotle,  and  Ariftotle  only,  has  anfvveied  ;   for  he  has  defined" 
man    to    be    X^aov  Xoylxov,    BiJiror,  vov  y.xi  i-jriaTAui.-ni  SeJtTJXoj'.      What  is 
meant  by  ^wor,  or  animal,  which  Ariftotle   makes  the  genus  erf  this 
definition,  is  well  known  to  be  a  being  which   perceives   by  fenfes  ; 
but  there  is  moie  difficulty  to  know  what  he  means   by  the   fpecific 

difference 


Cliap.  T.        ANTIENT    METAPHYSICS.  25 

.difference  of  Ao>/xoi',  by  which  a  man  not  learned  in  the  antlent 
Philofnphy,  and  not  able  to  make  the  dlftindtion  between  Ao^'os  and 
jo'js  will  fuppofe  that  he  meant  what  we  call  rational.  But  it  is  evi- 
dent, from  what  follows,  that  Ariftotle  did  not  underftand  that  Man 
was  by  nature  a  rational  animal,  as  we  underftand  the  word.  To 
know  what  Koyi'^v  means,  we  muft  know  what  is  meant  by  Koyoi. 
Now  Myoi,  in  its  proper  fignincation,  and  as  it  is  ufed  by  Euclid, 
who  ufes  no  word  in  a  metaphorical  fenfe,  denotes  a  certain  relation 
betwixt  things,  fuch  as  numbers  and  figures  *,  and  which  we  ex- 
prefs  in  Englifh  by  the  word  ratio.  Now,  it  is  by  comparifon  that 
we  difcover  the  relation  of  things  to  one  another,  and  therefore  Ao- 
yiv.oi  denotes  what  has  the  faculty  of  making  this  comparifon,  ac- 
cording  to  the  ordinary  derivation  of  Greek  words. 

Man,  therefore,  according  to  Ariftotle,  is  not  only  feniuive,  as 
all  animals  are,  but  he  has  the  faculty  of  comparing  his  fenfations  : 
And  in  this  way  he  is  diftinguiftied  from  the  loweft  clafs  of  animals, 
fuch  as  mothSj  and  worms  and  other  reptiles,  and  thofe  imperfe^St- 
animals  called  Zoophytes,  fome  of  which,  like  vegetables,  do  not 
move  from  one  place  to  another  f.  Thefe  do  not  appear  to  have  that 
comparative  faculty  ;  but  man  is  ranked,  by  Ariftotle,  with  the  higher 
fpeciefes  of  brutes,  fuch  as  hcrfes  and  dogs,  v?ho  certainly  have  that 
comparative  faculty  ;.  for  they  diftinguifh  one  kind  of  food  from 
another,  and  of  the  different  ohjeds,  which  they  perceive  by  their 
fenfes,  they  choofe  what  fuits  them  beft.  Any  man,  accuftomed  to 
ride,  will  obferve,  that  his-  horf&,  when  left  to  himfelf,  choofes  that 
part  of  the  road  which  is  fmooth  and  not  deep,  in  preference  to  that" 
which  is  ftony  or  deep.  Now,  he  could  not  give  that  preference 
without  comparing  the  two.    And  the  brutes  form  what  we  may  call 

*•  See  Vol.  I.  of  Origin  of  Lnng.  p.  3t.  and  p.  333. 

%  A:a{loteles  de  IMoria  Animaliuin,  lib,  1.  cap.  i.  p.  193.  edit.  Da  Vall^ 


f4  ANTIENT    METAPHYSICS.        Book  I. 

a  refolutlon,  by  which  their  natural  inftind  direds  them  to  do  one 
thing  rather  than  another ;  and  we  fee  them  very  often  deliberating, 
when  their  natural  appetites  draw  them  different  ways.  Thus  I 
have  feen  a  dog  deliberate  mod  anxioufly,  and  debate  with  himfelf, 
when  his  love  for  his  mafter  prompted  him  to  follow  him  through  a 
rapid  river,  while  the  fear  of  the  water  reftrained  him.  Ariftotle 
adds  next  in  the  definition,  what  needs  no  explanation,  that  he  is 
mortal. 

Thus  far  Ariftotle  has  exalted  our  nature,  fo  as  ro  be  ranked  with 
the  better  kinds  of  brutes ;  but  he  has  not  yet  told  us  what  diftin- 
guifhes  man  from  them  even  in  his  natural  ftate.  But  now  he 
gives  us  that  diftindion,  and  very  properly  concludes  his  definition 
with  it:  For  he  fays  "  That  man  is  an  animal,  capable  of  intelle£t, 
"  (or  to  tranflate  the  Greek  word  literally),  that  may  receive  intelleft, 
"  and  alfo  of  fcience."  And  here  the  reader  will  obferve,  that  I 
tranflate  the  Greek  word  vom,  not  by  the  Englifh  word  reafon^  as  is 
commonly  done,  but  by  the  word  intelle^i^  by  which  I  mean  to 
denote  that  faculty  of  the  mind  which  forms  ideas,  and  fees 
the  one  in  the  many ;  whereas  Reafon,  according  to  the  Englifh  fenfe 
of  the  word,  denotes  that  faculty  by  which  we  compare  our  ideas, 
and  form  the  laft  thing  mentioned  by  Ariftotle  in  this  definition, 
viz.  Science,  which  is  formed  by  the  difcurfive  faculty  of  the  hu- 
man mind,  in  Greek  (fiuroia.. 

The  full  definition,  therefore,  of  Man,  according  to  Ariftotle,  is, 
"  That  he  is  a  Comparative  Animal,  (that  is,  an  animal,  who  has  the 
"  faculty  of  Comparing),  who  has  alfo  the  capacity  of  acquiring  In- 
"  telled  and  Science,  and  who  is  Mortal." 

And  here  we  may  obferve  how  properly  Ariftotle  has  fet  at  the 
head  of  his  definition  of  Man  this  Comparative  faculty,  as  from  it 

every 


Ghap.I.        ANTI  EN  T   METAPHYSICS.  15 

every  operation  of  the  human  mind,  animal  as  well  as  intellectual, 
is  to  be  derived.  And  fir  ft,  he  compares  corporeal  obje£ts,  or  the 
objedis  of  fenfe,  with  which  all  our  knowledge  in  this  life  muft  be- 
gin ;  and  by  that  comparifon  he  difcovers  that  fome  of  them  are 
more  fit  for  the  purpofes  of  animal  life  than  others,  and  to  thefe 
gives  the  preference,  being  diredled  either  by  his  fenfes,  to  which 
fome  of  them  are  more  agreeable  than  others,  or  by  inftincfl,  which 
prompts  him  as  well  as  other  animals  to  choofe  what  is  fitteft  for  the 
prefervation  of  the  individual,  and  the  continuation  of  the  kind. 

The  next  a£t  I  fliall  mention  of  this  comparative  faculty,  and 
which  is  alfo  common  to  him  with  the  Brute,  is  that  by  which  he 
difcovers  that  the  feveral  qualities,  he  perceives  by  his  fenfes 
in  any  particular  object,  are  joined  together  in  one  obje(ft.  This  is 
an  union  which,  as  Proclus,  ad  Timaeiim^  p.  76.  has  very  well  ob- 
ferved,  is  not  difcovered  by  the  fenfes,  which  only  report  each  its 
own  perception.  It  is  therefore  difcovered  by  the  Ac^oc,  or  compa- 
rative faculty,  which  is  common  to  us  with  the  brute.  Another  ex- 
crcife  of  that  faculty  is  that,  by  which  he  difcovers  an  Gbjed  to  be 
the  fame  with  that  which  he  had  feen  before.  This  he  does,  by 
comparing  the  objed,  when  he  fees  it  a  fecond  time,  with  the  pic- 
ture of  it  which  he  had  retained  in  his  Phantafia  after  feeing  it  the 
firft  time.  And  farther,  when  he  fees  an  objed  of  the  fame  kind, 
having  all  or  moft  of  thofe  marks  which  his  fenfes  had  perceived  ia- 
the  firft  ohjed,  he  knows  it  to  be  of  the  fame  kind.  And  this  fa- 
culty of  comparifon  the  brute  likewife  has  i  for  it  is  by  it  that  he- 
diftinguifhes  animals  of  his  own  fpecies  from  thofe  of  another,  or 
animals  of  different  fpeciefes  fro.Ti  one  another,  as  a  man  from  a. 
horfe,  or  a  horfe  from  an  ck. 


fraosi 


1,6  ANTIENT    METAPHYSICS.        Book  I. 

From  this  comparlfon   naturally  arifes  another  comparlfcn,  but 
which  it  does  not  appear  that  the  brute  makes,  fo  that  here  the  road 
parts  betwixt  man  and  brute.  -  By  this  comparifcn,  which  is  of  the 
thing  with  itfelf,  man,  when  he  begins  to  have  the  ufe  of  intelledt, 
and  to  form  ideas,  difcovers  that  there   are   certain  qualities   in   the 
thing,  which  are  principal,  and  diftinguifh  it  more  from  other  things 
than   its  other  qualities.     For  example,  he  difcovers  in  a  horfe  that 
he  has  a  long  body,   long  legs,  an   elevated  neck,  a  head  and  tail  of 
a  particular  form  ;  and  that  he  is  fwiftef  of  foot,  and,  when  he  lays 
himfelf  out,  covers  more  ground,  than  other  animals.     From  thefe 
principal   qualities  he  feparates  other  qualities,  which   are   common 
to  him  with  other  animals,  fuch   as  that  of  colour,  or  having  four 
feet ;  and  thus  he  forms  the  particular  idea  of  a  horfe  :    And  the 
forming  in  this  way  the  ideas  of  particular  things,  is  the  firft  opera- 
tion of  the  human  intelle<5t,  without  which  we  could  have  no  ge- 
neral ideas,  as  a  general  idea  is  nothing  elfe  but  the  particular  idea 
generalized*.     When  we  are  further  advanced  ia  arts,  fciences,  and 
phllofophy,   we  difcover  what  is  unknown  to  our  modern   philofo- 
phers,   that  the  particular  idea  of  any  thing  is  a  mind  or  immaterial 
fubftance,  which  animates  the  thing,  gives  it  motion  and  all  its  quali- 
ties, and  makes  it  what  it  is,  diftind  from  every  thing  elfe  f.  And  here 
we  may  obferve,  that  this  comparifon  of  the  objedl  with  itfelf  is  no- 
thing more  than  making  more  accurate  and  more  particular  that  com- 
parifon, by  which  the  brutes  as  well  as  we  difcover  that  other  animals 
are  of  the  fame  fpecies  with  themfelves,  and  by  which  they  alfo  diftin- 
guifli  diffc^rent  fpeciefes.     The  reader  will  alfo  obferve,  that  here  we 

ufe 


*  Stc  what  I  have  laid  u'-ou  this  fubjcci  in  Vol.  II.  of  this  Work,  Book  11.  Chap. 
II.  p.  76.  and  35.  The  whole  chapter  is  worth  reading  by  thole  who  define  to 
know  accurately  the  difierence  betwixt  fenfations  and  ideas. 

t  Ibid.  p.  73,  74,  nnd  75. 


Oiap.  L        ANTIENT    METAPHYSICS.  17 

life  the  faculty  of  abftradlion  and  feparatlon,  which  is  peculiar  to 
the  intelle£lual  nature,  and  without  which  we  never  could  have 
formed  ideas  of  any  kind.  For  in  this  material  world,  as  fome  of 
the  antient  philofophers  have  obferved,  paiticularly  Anaxagoras,  as 
I  remember,  all  things  are  fo  mixt  with  all  things,  that  unlefs  we 
can  make  that  feparatlon  and  difcrimination,  which  is  made  by  ab- 
ftradion,  we  cannot  have  any  diftind  notion  of  any  thing,  but  mud 
perceive  all  things,  together  with  all  their  qualities,  as  the  brutes 
perceive  them.  Now  even  abftradion  cannot  be  without  compari- 
fon  ;  for  we  muft  compare  the  thing  we  abftradl  with  that  from 
which  we  abftrad:  it.  Another  thing  to  be  obferved  is,  that  in 
forming  the  particular  idea,  as  well  as  the  general,  we  difcover  the 
cne  in  the  many ;  for  we  difcover  that  there  is  one  things  or  a  cer- 
tain determinate  number  of  things,  which  make  the  objeds,  that 
we  perceive  by  our  fenfes,  what  they  are  and  nothing  elfe.  Here, 
too,  there  is  comparifon  ;  for  we  muft  compare  the  one  with  the 
many^  by  which  compariloa  we  difcover  that  the  one  contains  the 
many. 

The  next  ftep  in  this  progreffion,  and  by  which  we  are  ftill  more 
diftinguifhed  from  the  brute  than  by  the  former,  is  that  by  which 
we  difcover  that  the  one,  which  we  have  found  in  one  individual,  is 
to  be  found  in  many.  And  thus  we  form  the  idea  of  a  fpecies,  then 
of  a  genus,  and  fo  on  till  we  afcend  to  the  higheft  genufes,  explain- 
ed by  Ariftotle  in  his  Categories.  And  in  this  progreffion  we  may 
obferve,  that  we  ftill  ufe  thofe  two  great  inftruments  of  human 
knowledge,  Generalization  and  Abftradlion  ;  for  we  muft  both  ge- 
neralize the  fpecies,  and  abftrafl  from  it  the  fpecific  differences,  in 
order  to  form  the  idea  of  the  genus  ;  and  both  thefe  operations,  as 
I  have  faid,  cannot  be  without  comparifon.  In  this  manner  wc 
form  ideas  fuperior  and  fubordinate. 

Vol.  IV.  C  The 


38  ANTIENT    METAPHYSICS.         Book  L 

The   next    ftep   in    the    human    progreffion    Is   Propofitions^   in 
forming  which   we   mufl:  necefrarily  compare   the  two   ideas  that 
we  join   together    in    the   propofition :     And  by  that   comparifon 
we  difcover  that  the  one  is  either  a  part  of  the  other,   or  not  a 
part  but   excluded  from  it;  for  the  truth  of  all  propofitions,  po- 
fitive  or   negative,    is   the   refult   of  that   comparifon.      Some   of 
thefe  relations  of  ideas  we  difcover  intuitively,  and   fuch  propo- 
fitions we  call  Axioms.     But  of  other  ideas  we  difcover  the  rela- 
tion by  a  procefs  we  call  Reafoning  or  Syllogifm ;  but  which  ftill 
goes  on  by  comparing  the  ideas  with   one  another.     Thus  I  think 
i  have  {hewn,   that  both  intelled  and  fcience  are  derived  from  that 
lacui-y  of  ('omparifon,  which  Ariftotle  has  made  the  firft   thing  ia 
th'.  Definition  of  Man ;  and  which,  by  our  having  the  capacity  to 
earry  it  further  than  the  brute,  makes  us  Intelligent  and  Scientific 
Creatures.  2  J/y,  It  appears  that  the  definition,  which  Plato  has  givea 
us  of  the  operation  of  the  mind  when  it  forms  ideas  that  is,  making 
one  of  the  many^  is  perfedlly  juft,  and  applies  not  only  to  ideas,  but 
to  all  the  operations  of  the  intellect  in  forming  arts  and   fciences. 
And,  laftlj/y  from  the  account  I   have  given  of  the  progrefs  of  the 
human  mind,  what  I  have  elfewhere  faid*  is  evident,  that  in  this  ftate 
of  our  exiftence  we  know  not  the  eflence  of  any  thing.     What  we 
know  is  only  the  relations  of  things  to  one  another :    For  example, 
that  one  thing  is  the  genus  or  fpecies  of  another  ;   that  there  are 
certain  differences  which   diftinguiili  the  fpecies  from  the   genus; 
that  there  are  properties  of  things  which  are  peculiar  to  them,  and 
others  that  are  accidental.     What  v;e  know,  therefore,   is  all  in  fyf- 
tem,  which  is  conftituted  by  the  relations  and  connexions  of  things 
to  one  another.     And  thus,  by  afcending  from  lelTer  to  greater  fyf- 
tems,  we  may  come  at  length  to  the  contemplation  of  the  fyftem  of 
the  univerfe  and  its  great  Author,   which,  to   the  intelledual  mind, 
is  the  beatific  vifion.     And  here   we   may  obferve   the   order  and 

regularity 

•  Vol.  I,  of  this  work,  p.  56. 


Chap.  I.         A  N  T  I  E  N  T    IM  E  T  A  P  H  Y  S  I  C  S.  ig 

regularity  of  that  fyflem,  by  which  man  is  conneded  with  the 
brute,  and  how  he  begins  where  the  brute  ends,  that  is,  with  com- 
paring an  objed  of  fenfe  with  itfelf,  fo  as  to  difcover  what  is  princi- 
pal and  predominant  in  it  :  So  that  there  is  here,  as  well  as  in  other 
parts  of  natnre,  a  chain  where  no  link  Is  wanting,  and  where  every 
thing  is  connected  with  every  thing. 

What  I  have  here  faid,  I  know,  will  not  be  intelligible  to  thofe 
who  have  ftudied   only  Mr   Locke's  Philofophy,  and  confequently 
have  not  learned  to  diftinguifh  betwixt   Ideas  and  Senfations,   and 
know  nothing  of  the  one  in  the  many,  which,  according  to  Antient 
Philofophy,   is  the  foundation  of  all  the   operations  of  the  human 
intelled  ;  and  I  can  tell   thofe  gentlemen  farther,   that  they  never 
will  underftand  this,  nor  any  other  part  of  Antient  Philofophy,  till 
they  give  up  all  they  have  learned  in  modern  books  of  philofophy, 
and  have  come  to   know  that  they  know  nothing  of  philofophy : 
for,  as  I  have  obferved  el  fe where  *,  to  knoiv  that  ive  do  not  hioiv,  Is 
the  foundation  of  all  human  knowledge.     Now  this  is  fuch  a  facri- 
fice  of  a  man's  vanity,   as   we  are   to   exped  very  few  will  make  ; 
and  indeed   to  do  fo   requires  a  candour  and  a  love  of  truth  and 
knowledge  very  rarely  to  be  met  with  in  this  age  :    But  even   men 
of  the  greateft  candour  and  modefty  might  be   offended,  if  1   pre- 
tended to  have  invented  a  philofophy  fo  much  better  than  what  this 
age  or  modern  times  have  produced. — But  that  is  not  the  cafe  :    I 
pretend  to  have  invented  no  philofophy,  I  only  mean  to  reitore  the 
philofophy  of  men  much  fuperior  to  us,  I  mean  the  antieni  Egyp- 
tians and  Greeks,  who,   if  they  had  been   inferior  to  us  in  genius 
and  natural  parts,  cultivated  philofophy  fo  much  more  than   ever  it 
was  cultivated  any  where  elfe,  that  they  mull  have  excelled  us  in  it, 

C  2  and 

*  Orlgla  and  Progrefs  of  Language,  Vol.  V.  p.  296. 


ao  ANTIENT   METAPHYSICS.         Book  i; 

and  which  philofophy  was,  for  two  centuries  after  the  reftoration  of 
letters,  the  only  philofophy  of  Europe. — But  to  return  to  the  Man 
«f  Ariftotle. 

He  has  defined  him  to  be  "  A  creature  of  Intelled  and  Science  only, 
in  capacity ^^^  marking  in  this  way  the  progrefs  of  man,  as  well  as  of 
every  thing  elfe  on  this  earth,  from  capacity  to  aftuality;  for  every 
thing  here  has  firft  the  capacity  of  becoming  fomething,  before  it  is 
adually  that  thing:  And  it  is  from  this  grand  and  comprehenfive 
view  of  nature  that  Ariftotle  has  given  us  that  fine  definition  of 
motion,  the  great  agent  in  all  natural  operations,  which  I  have  elfe- 
where  explained  *.  How  much  longer  the  progrefs  in  man  is,  front 
mere  capacity  to  the  completion  of  his  nature,  than  of  any  other 
animal,  1  Ihall  prefently  obferve« 

As  Ariftotle  thinks  the  mind  is  principal  in  all  animals-,  he  has 
defined  man  by  his  mind  only,  and  faid  nothing  of  his  body  in  the 
definition,  nor  any  where  ehe,  as  far  as  I  can  recoiled,  except  in  his 
Hiftoiy  of  Animals,  where  he  has  told  us,  that  man  is  more  fitted 
by  nature  to  be  a  biped  than  any  other  animal.  But  from  thence  I 
infei,  that  he  did  not  think  that  he  was  by  nature  a  biped  f :  For  if  he 
had  thought  fo,  he  would  not  have  faid  that  man  was  fitted  by  nature 
to  be  a  biped  more  than  any  other  animal  j  that  is,  as  I  underftand  the 
words,  he  could  become  a  biped  more  eafily  than  any  other  animal  j 
hut  he  would  have  faid  plainly  and  fliortly,  that  he  was  by  nature  a 
biped.  But  if  he  had  faid  fo,  he  would  have  been  miftaken  ;  for  ic 
now  appears  to  be  certain,  that  man  is  by  nature  a  quadrupeds 
This  1  have  proved  if,  by  fundry  inftances  of  favages  that  have  been 

caughs 


* 


Vol.  I.  of  this  work,  Book  I,  Chap.  III.  p.  19. 
f  Vol.  I.  of  Origin  and  Progrefs  of  Language,  p.  1 86.  of  fecond  editioii. 
^  Ibidtm. 


CIiap.L        ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  21 

caught  in  different  parts  of  Europe,  going  upon  all  four.  One  of 
them  was  well  known  in  England,  under  the  name  of  Peter  the 
Wild  Boy  ;  for  he  was  caught  in  the  woods  of  Hanover  not  many 
years  ago,  and  brought  to  England,  where  I  faw  him  *•  And  there 
is  another  very  remarkable  inftance,  which  I  have  mentioned  in 
the  third  volume  of  this  work  f,  of  a  quadruped  of  the  human 
fpecies  that  was  found  in  the  woods  of  Saxony.  And  I  have  lately 
difcovered  that  there  were  found  in  Devonfhire  two  children,  a  boy 
that  appeared  to  be  about  ten  years  of  age,  and  a  girl  of  twelve, 
going  upon  all  four  with  furprifmg  celerity.  This  I  learnt  from  a 
newfpaper  that  was  publlflied  in  Devonfhire,  of  which  I  have  given 
the  words  in  the  note  below:]:.  But  befides  thefe  inftances-of  fingle 
favages  walking  that  way,  I  have  mentioned,  in  the  palTage  from 
the  Origin  and  Progrefs  of  Language,  above  quoted,  two  nations, 
namely  the  Hottentots  and  Carribbees,  where  the  children  walk  {o 
long  upon  all  four,  that  they  are  taught  with  much  difficulty  to 
walk  upright. 

Thefe  examples  prove,  I  think,  beyond  doubt,  that  the  natural 
motion  of  man  is  upon  all  four  *     They  are  not  very  many  in  num- 
ber ; 

*  Vol,  III.  of  this  work,  p.  57.  and  alfo  p;  363. 

t  Ibid.  p.  74. 

\  '■'•  A  Faci. — There  are  at  prefent  two  children  at  Gruw]pt  in  Devonfhire,  who- 
*»  have  been  fuf&red,  by  their  mother,  to  run  wild  from  their  infancy  rather  than 
"  accept  of  the  parifh  affiftance.  The  one  is  a  boy  of  ten,  the  other  a  girl  of  twelve 
"  years  of  age.  They  are  both  in  a  ftate  of  nature,  feeding  only  on  wild  berries, 
"  and  running  on  all  fours  with  amazing  celerity.  If  purfued,  they  utter  a  terrific 
"  fcream,  and  hide  themfelves  oa  the  top  of  a  hill,  or  in  the  recefles  of  a  thicket 
"  They  are  never  feen  in  a  (landing  pofture  ;  nor  can  they  be  prevailed  on  to  ap- 
"  proach  any  perfon  but  their  mother,  with  whom,  though  they  cannot  fpeak,  they 
"  have  always  kept  up  a  diftant  and  fearful  communication."  What  is  become  of 
thefe  children,  or  whether  they  be  yet  exifling,  I  cannot  tell,  though  I  have  ordered, 
an  inquiry  to  be  made. 


22  ANTIENT    METAPHYSICS.        Book  t 

ber  ;  nor  is  it  poffible  that  fuch  a  fad  in  natural  hiftory  fliould  be 
proved  by  indudion  of  many  examples.  And  indeed  I  think  it  is 
furprifing  that  fo  many  fhould  have  been  found  in  a  civilized  coun- 
try, fuch  as  Europe,  where  it  is  impoffible  that  any  individuals 
iliould  have  been  found  in  this  ftate,  except  fuch  as,  by  fome  acci- 
dent, were  expofed  when  they  were  infants.  But  if  there  were  any 
doubt  in  the  matter,  the  way  of  walking  of  our  own  infants,  upon 
all  four,  fhould  convince  us  that  it  is  the  natural  motion  of  man. 
And  I  am  perfuaded,  that  if  we  were  not  at  pains  t©  give  them  the 
ered  pofture  very  eaily,  they  would  continue  to  walk  upon  all  four 
as  long  as  the  children  of  the  Hottentots  and  Carribbees  do;  and  if 
they  were  allowed  to  run  wild  as  long  as  the  Saxon  favage  did,  they 
would  be  ereded  with  as  much  difficulty  as  he  was,  to  whofe  fhoul- 
ders  they  were  obliged  to  hang  weights,  to  counterad  that  natural 
propenfity  he  had  to  fall  prone ;  and  which  would  be  as  ftrong  ia 
our  children,  if  bj  cuftom,  from  their  eaxlieft  infancy,  it  were  not 

toatt'iciaifkd! 

Now,  from  a  quadruped,   and  a  creature  only  capable  of  Intelled 
and  fcience,  what  a  wonderful  progrefs  to  man  in  his  prefent  ftate. 
And  firft,  as  to  body,  what  a  difference  betwixt  fuch  an  animal,  and 
the  noble,  ered,  ftately  figures  of  the  heroic  age,  or  even  of  fuch  men 
as  we  are  :    And  as  to  the  mind,   what  comparifon  can  there  be  be- 
twixt a   mind  void   of  all   ideas,   and  the  minds  of  the  Egyptian 
priefts,  or  the  fages  of  Greece,  replete  with  fcience  and   philofophy. 
Then  what  a  number  of  arts  of  neceffity,  eafe,   pleafure,   and  ele- 
gance have  been  invented  by  this  quadruped,   more  than  I  believe 
have  yet  been  numbered.     In  (hort  he  has  made  a  world  of  art,  to 
which  nothing  we  know  can  be  compared,  except   the  great  world 
of  nature,  the  work  of  Infinite  Wifdom   and   Power.     In   forming 
this  world  of  art,  he  has  ufed  all   the   materials  which  the  natural 
world  afforded  him,  and  has  ranfacked  the  animal,  vegetable,  and 

mineral 


Chap.  r.        ANTIENT   METAPHYSICS.  23 


a 


mineral  kingdoms ;  and,  not  content  with  what  he  found  above 
ground,  he  has  dug  into  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  and  and  from  thence 
produced  metals.  But  thefe  could  have  been  of  little  ufe  to  him.  if 
he  had  not  brought  down  from  heaven  fire,  as  it  is  faid,  but  which 
he  now  ftrikes  out  of  flints,  a  difcovery  that  the  Chinefe  have  not 
yet  made.  Of  the  vegetable  he  makes  food,  and  feuel  for  fire, 
and  many  other  ufes  ;  and  as  to  animals,  it  is  furprifing  what  a  do- 
minion he  has  obtained  over  them.  The  fiercefl:  and  ftrongeft  of 
them  he  has  been  able  to  refill  and  conquer  ;  others  he  has  tamed 
and  fubdued,  and  made  ufeful  ta  him,  even  fome  of  them  of  the 
largeft  fize,  fuch  as  the  elephant ;  others  of  them  he  has  domefti- 
cated,  and  made  companions  of  them,  and  guardians  of  his  houfe, 
and  others  of  them  he  ufes  for  food.  Nor  is  his  dominion  con- 
fined to  the  land  ;  he  reigns  over  the  fea,  and  makes  it  fubfervient  to 
him,  not  only  in  furnifhing  moft  delicate  food,  but  in  wafting  hin\ 
to  the  moft  diftant  countries,  and  bringing  from  thence  all  the  good 
things  of  thofe  countries  which  he  by  that   means   enjoys.     The 

Leviathan, 

^^ whom  God 

Created  hugeft  that  fwim  the  Ocean  ftream  *, 

he  has  been  able  to  conquer  and  kill,  in  his  own  element,  and  make 
ufeful  for  the  purpofes  of  life  ;  and  modern  art  has  fhewn  upon 
the  fea  a  machine  of  enormous  fize,  vomiting  fire  and  fmoke  with 
the  noife  of  thunder,  and  fending  death  and  deftru^lion  to  an  amaz- 
ing diftance  :  And  this  fo  prodigious  machine  is  governed  by  little 
men  fuch  as  we,  and  made  to  ride  triumphant  over  the  waves.  In 
fhort,  fuch  is  this  wonderful  world  of  art,  that  not  only  thofe  ftu- 
pendous  produdions  of  it  I  have  mentioned,  but  even  the  meanefl 
domeftic  utenfil,  aftonifties  the  philofopher  who  knows  from  what 
fource  it  comes. 

Now, 

*  Milton, 


24  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.        BockL 

Now  this  wonderful  progrefs  of  man,  fo  much  more  wonderful 
than  that  of  any  other  animal,  Ariftotle  knew  :  For  he  has  told  us, 
that  in  his  natural  ftate  he  has  not  the  ufe  of  intelled:,  but  only  the 
capacity  of  acquiring  it.  Now  it  is  by  intelled  that  all  the  world  of 
art  has  been  produced,  and  man  made  fuch  as  we  fee  him.  And 
indeed  if  we  could  fuppofe,  as  many  do,  that  fuch  a  natural  ftate  of 
man,  as  I  have  defcribed,  never  exifted,  then  Ariftotle  would  have 
defined  a  mere  nonentity,  a  creature  that  neither  is,  nor  ever  was. 
But  that  is  not  the  cafe  j  and  he  has  not  only  properly  defined  man, 
but  in  his  definition  given  a  kind  of  hiftory  of  the  fpecies,  carrying 
it  on  from  the  fir(l  beginning  of  it,  to  its  completion  and  perfedion 
in  intelleft  and  fcience :  And,  in  my  opinion,  there  never  was  a  bet- 
ter definition  given  of  any  thing. 


CHAP. 


Chap.  ir.        ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  25 


CHAP.        II. 


Of  the  feveral  Jleps  of  the  human  progrejfion  from  the  Brute  to  the 
Man. — The  Author  has  feen  three  fiages  of  that  progrejfion; — firft, 
Peter  the  Wild  Boy  ;  —  fecondly,  The  Ourang  Outang^  of  ivhom  the 
Author  has  difcovercd fome  fiHs,  fmce  he  publifJoed  upon  thefuhjetl; 
— thirdly,  The  Wild  Girl  in  France. — She  ivas  an  amphibious  ani- 
fual. — Several  particulars  concerning  her  mentioned. 

THE  fubjedt  of  this  chapter  will  be  to  mark  fome  of  the  firfi: 
fteps  of  this  wonderful  progrefhon  of  man.  Of  thefe  I 
have  iten  with  mine  own  eyes  three,  which  I  believe  is  what  very 
few  now  living  can  fay.  The  firft  I  faw,  was  in  the  pure  natural 
ftate  when  he  was  catched  in  the  woods  of  Hanover,  walking  on 
all  four.  It  was  Peter  the  Wild  Boy,  as  he  was  called,  whom  I 
have  mentioned  above*.  I  faw  him  twice, and  I  had  a  very  particu- 
lar account  of  him  from  an  Oxford  gentleman,  who,  at  my  defire, 
went  to  fee  him  ;  which  account  I  have  publifhed  f.  He  had  learned 
to  articulate  but  few  words,  though  he  was  put  to  fchool,  and  no 
doubt  a  great  deal  of  pains  beftowed  to  teach  him  to  fpeak.  But 
this  we  Ihould  not  wonder  at,  when  we  confider  what  trouble  it  re- 
quires to  teach  deaf  men  to  fpeak,  though  born  and  brought  up  a- 
mong  us.  Of  his  being  a  man,  there  never  was  the  leaft  uoubt  en- 
tertained ;  and  that  he  was  not  an  ideot,  or  dcfcclive  in  natural  ca- 
VoL.  IV.  D  pacity, 

•  Page  21. 

•}  Vol.  III.  p.  368.  See  slfo  p.  J  8.  of  the  fame  volume,  where  I  have  given  the  ac- 
counts of  him  that  were  published  in  the  newfpapers,  iminediately  after  he  was 
brought  to  Enj^laad, 


26  ANTIENT    METAPHYSICS.         Book  I. 

pacity,  I  think  is  evident  from  the  feveral  accounts  of  him  which 
I  have  publifhed  in  the  paflages  above  quoted.  And  indeed,  from 
what  i  faw  of  him  myfelf,  I  think  I  can  atteft,  that  he  had  as  much 
underftanding  as  could  be  expeded  in  a  man  who  had  learned  none 
of  our  arts,  not  even  the  ufe  of  his  ovcrn  body  fo  as  to  walk  eredl, 
till  he  was  15  years  of  age  ;  for  till  then  he  was  a  quadruped. 

The  nest  ftep  of  this  progreffion  Is  the  Ourang  Outang,  or 
Man  of  the  Woods,  as  the  name  imports,  by  which  he  is  called  by  the 
people  of  Africa,  where  he  Is  to  be  feen,  and  who  do  not  appear  ta 
have  the  leaft  doubt  that  he  is  a  man  ;  which,  as  they  live  in  the 
country  with  him,  they  fhould  know  better  than  we  can  do.  Two 
of  them  I  faw  in  London  fome  years  ago,  and  one  of  them  I  could 
have  purchafed  for  L.  50  ;  which  money,  poor  as  I  am,  I  would 
have  given  for  him,  and  been  at  the  expence  of  his  education,  if  I 
had  not  been  convinced,  not  only  that  ^^  was  a  man,  but  that  it 
was  of  abfolute  neceflity  that,  in  the  progrefs  of  the  human  fpecies,. 
man  Ihould  at  fome  time  or  another  be  fuch  an  animal :  For,  if  he 
was  originally  a  quadruped,  as  1  think  I  have  proved  by  fadts  in- 
conteftible,  with  only  a  natural  aptitude,  more  than  any  other  ani- 
mal, to  walk  on  two,  as  Ariftotle  has  fald,  the  firft  ftep  in  his  pro- 
greffion was  to  become  a  biped,  to  which,  by  nature,  he  \yas  fo 
much  adapted.  I  will  not  here  repeat  what  1  have  elfewhere  faid 
at  fo  great  length,  in  proof  of  the  humanity  of  the  Ourang  Ou- 
tang *,  where  I  think  1  have  demonftrated  that  he  Is  a  man,  both 

in 


•  See  chap.  4th  of  book  2d  of  vol.  I,  of  the  Origin  of  Language,  ad  edition, 
and  particularly  p.  289.  of  that  chapter,  where  I  have  iummed  up  the  evidence  of 
his  being  a  man  :  In  which  there  is  one  circumftance  dcferving  particularnotice,  that 
he  carries  otF  negro  boys  and  girls  to  make  fervants  ot  them,  and  keeps  them  for 
years,  ufing  them  with  great  gentlenefs  and  humanity ;  a  thing  of  which  we  cannot 
conceive  any  brute  animal  capable.    See  alfo  what  I  have  faid  in  the  Appendix  to 

vol* 


Chap.  ir.        ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  27 

in  mind  and  body,  and  particularly  as  to  his  mind,  by  which, 
as  I  have  obferved,  Arlftotle  has  chiefly  diftinguiflied  animals: 
For  I  have  fliewn  that  he  has  the  fenfe  of  what  is  decent  and  be- 
coming *,  which  is  peculiar  to  man,  and  diftinguifhes  him  from  the 
brute  as  much  as  any  thing  elfe.  And  he  has  a  fenfe  of  honour, 
which  is  really  furprifmg,  and  fuch  as  is  not  to  be  found  in  many 
men  among  us ;  for  he  canno:  bear  to  be  expofed  as  a  fhovv,  nor  to  be 
laughed  at ;  and  travellers  mention  example?  o'c  Come  uf  them  having 
died  of  vexation,  for  being  fo  treated  f.  He  has  alfo  the  feeling  of 
humanity  in  a  ftrong  degree  ;  and  a  fenfe  of  juRice,  as  is  evident, 
from  a  remarkable  example  given  ijl.  Further,  he  has  made  fone 
progrefs  in  the  arts  of  life;  for  he  builds  huts  §,  and  he  has  got  -^ae 
ufe  of  a  flick  for  attacking  or  defending,  which,  as  Horace  obferves  |, 
was  the  firft  artificial  weapon  man  ufed,  after  he  had  cealed  to 
ufe  his  native  weapons,  his  nails  and  fifts.  He  has  learned  alfo  the 
ufe  of  fire  H,  which  is  more  than  the  inhabitants  of  the  Ladrone 
Iflands  had  learned,  when  they  were  difcovered  by  the  Portuguefe  i 
and  laftly,  he  buries  his  dead  **. 

D  2  Thus 


vol.  Ill  of  this  work,  and  particularly  what  I  have  there  ftated  from  a  French  Book 
of  Travels,  lately  publiflied,  where  there  Is  a  faft  related,  p.  360.  which,  if  true,  puts 
an  end  to  the  queftion,  viz.  that  the  Ourang  Outang  not  only  copulates  with  females 
of  our  fpecies,  and  produces  children,  but  that  the  offspring  of  that  copulation  does 
likewife  produce. 

•  Vol.  I.  of  Origin  of  Language,  2d  edit.  p.  273.  279.  and  291.  From  which 
paflages,  it  appears,  that  both  the  males  and  females  there  mentioned  bad  a  fenfe  of 
modefty,  which  made  them  conceal  their  nudities. 

f  Ibid.  p.  282—284. 

:|-  Ibid.  p.  204.— 288. 

§  Ibid.  p.  274. — 277.-283. 

H   Sertnotiutn,  lib.  I.  Sat.  3. 

^  Origin  of  Language,  p.  285. 

»•  Ibid.  p.  274. 


eS  ANTIENT    METAPHYSICS.         Book  L 

Thus  I'have  proved,  that  the  Ourang  Outang  is  not  only  a  man, 
with  refpedt  to  his  body,  but  alfo  in  mind,  the  principal  part  of 
man  and  of  all  other  animals.  As  the  reader,  however,  may  be 
defirous  to  know  ftill  more  of  this  wonderful  phenomenon  of  hu- 
man nature  I  will  add  here  fome  information  concerning  him, 
which  I  have  lately  received  from  a  gentleman  of  the  name  of 
Begg,  who  was  captain  of  a  Liverpool  (hip,  employed  in  the  flave 
trade  on  the  coaft  of  Africa.  He  was  promifed,  he  told  me,  a 
handfome  reward,  if  he  could  bring  home  an  Ourang  Outang  from 
Angola,  where  he  faw  herds  of  them,  and  was  at  great  pains,  with 
the  afliftance  of  his  crew,  to  get  hold  of  one  of  them ;  but  to  no 
purpofe.  He  therefore  refolved,  that  as  he  could  get  none  of  them 
alive,  he  would  try  to  get  one  or  more  of  them  dead  :  And  accor- 
dingly he  fired  upon  them,  and  killed  fome  of  them,  which  1  am 
perfuaded  he  would  not  have  done,  if  he  had  been  as  fuliy  con- 
vinced, as  I  am,  that  they  were  of  the  human  fpecies.  But  in  this, 
too,  he  was  likewife  diiappointed  ;  for,  before  he  and  his  crew  could 
get  to  the  place  where  they  fell,  they  were  carried  off  by  their  com- 
panions, for  the  purpofe,  as  he  fuppofes,  of  burying  them,  which,  we 
are  informed  by  others,  they  pradice*, 

I  have  correfponded  with  this  gentleman  likewife  by  letters,  m 
one  of  which  he  fays,  that  "  In  a  voyage  to  Old  Callabar  in  Africa, 
'*-  I  purchafed  a  female  Ourang  Outang  from  one  of  the  natives.  She 
"  was,  as  I  was  informed,  about  eight  months  old,  four  foot  fjx 
*'  inches  high,  of  a  dark  brown  colour,  but  white  about  the  breafts  j 
"  of  a  gentle  difpofition,  walked  generally  upright  on  her  hind  feet, 
"  fometimes  on  all  four ;  but  the  latter  feemed  to  me  not  to  be  her 
"  natural  motion.  Palm  nuts,  roots,  and  fubacid  fruits  were  her 
"  favourite  food.  She  would  "not  eat  beef  or  any  animal  fubftance. 
'^^  Water,  and  wine  drawn  from  the  palm  tree  (very  much  efteemed 

"■  by 

*  Vol.  I.  of  Origin  of  Language,  p.  274V 


Chap.  II.       ANTIENTMETAPHYSICS.  29 

"  by  the  natives),  were  her  conftant  drink.  She  would  often  drink 
*'  a  tumbler  glafs  of  wine  and  water,  and  always  put  the  glafs  foft- 
•'  ly  down  on  its  bottom,  and  never  broke  one*  She  was  very  fond 
*'  of  the  girls  and  boys,  but  more  particularly  of  the  latter,  and 
'  *'  would  weep  and  cry  like  a  child  when  (he  was  vexed  ;  but  never 
*'  fliewed  any  figns  of  great  ferocity,  and  was  eafily  appeafed.  I 
"  gave  her  a  blanket  for  a  bed,  which  (he  would  take  great  paina 
*'  to  fpread  in  fuch  a  manner  as  to  make  it  fmooth  and  eafy,  and 
"  then  would  lie  down.  She  always  flept  with  her  hands  (if  I  may 
"  ufe  the  exprefllon)  under  her  head,  and  would  fnore  when  afleep, 
"  refembling  the  human  fpecies.  She  lived  three  months,  and  died 
"  of  the  dyfentery. 

"  The  following  is  the  information  I  have  been  able  to  colled 
"  from  the  inhabitants  of  Africa,  where  I  have  been,  on  whofe  ve- 
**  racity  we  cannot  altogether  depend  ;  but  having  compared  diffe- 
"  rent  accounts,  I  always  found  them  in  a  great  meafure  to  corre- 
"  fpond. 


ct 


That  they  have  been  feen  in  feparate  great  bodies,  attacking  each 
"  other  with  fticks  with  great  animofity.  That  they  generally  build 
"  their  nefts  or  houfes  together  in  great  numbers,  a  fingle  Ourang 
"  Outang  being  but  feldom  or  never  feen  feparately.  That  they 
"  often  have  been  known  to  beat  and  bruife  the  negroes,  and  even 
"  to  kill  them,  when  fired  at  by  them.  That  the  common  fize  of 
"  an  Ourang  Outang  is  from  five  and  half  to  fix  feet.  That  they 
"  have  great  ftrengiii  \n  their  arms,  and  run  with  great  agility. 
*'  That  they  have  a  kind  of  chattering  guttural  noife  they  make, 
"  but  whether  they  can  communicate  their  ideas  or  not  to  each  o- 
"  ther,  1  cannot  fay  ;  but  it  is  the  received  opinion  among  the  na- 
"  tives  that  they  can.  That  dead  Ourang  Outangs  have  been  found 
"  covered  with  leaves  of  trees,  but  whether  from  accident  or  defign 
**  could  not  be  afcertained. — This  is  what  Informatioa  I  could  ac- 

"  quire- 


\o 


ANTIENT   METAPHYSICS.         Book  I. 


"  quire  from  the  negroes ;  but  I  can  by  no  means  vouch  for  the  truth 
"  of  any  part  of  it.  What  I  fay  from  my  own  obfervation  you  may 
"  depend  on  for  fa<3:." 

From  this  account  of  Mr  Begg,  it  is  evident  that  they  are  fo  far 
advanced  towards  the  poUtical  hfe,  as  to  herd  together,  and  to  com- 
municate together,  by  a  chattering  guttural  noiie,  which,  I  am  per- 
fuaded,  led  the  way  among  all  people  to  articulation  and  the  ufe  of 
fpeech.  And  the  Briftol  merchant,  with  whom  1  have  correfpouded, 
and  whofe  communications  I  have  mentioned  in  the  xft  volume  of  the 
Origin  and  Progrefs  of  Language  *  fays,  that  he  heard  that  they 
were  fo  far  advanced  in  the  political  life,  as  to  have  a  king  or  go- 
vernor f.  It  appears  alfo,  from  Mr  Begg's  account,  that  they  have 
fo  much  of  the  focial  fpirit  in  them,  and  are  To  much  attached  to  their 
herd,  as  not  to  negled  them  even  when  they  are  dead,  but  to  carry 
off  their  bodies  for  burial. 

This  animal,  it  is  to  be  obferved,  lives  entirely  upon  the  fruits  of 
the  earth  ;  for  the  carnivorous  diet  I  hold  to  be  unnatural  to  man, 
and  that  he  was  firft  driven  to  it  by  neceflity,  which  could  not  be 
the  cafe  of  the  Ourang  Outang,  who  lives  in  a  fruitful  country,  very 
thinly  peopled.  Further,  he  has  not  the  ufe  of  water,  except  to 
drink  it  j  for  fwimming  or  failing,  I  hold  to  be  likewife  unnatural 
to  man,  and  that  it  was  alfo  neceffity  that  firft  drove  him  to  it. 

There  is  another  obfervation  I  have  to  make,  which  is,  that  the 
Ourang  Outang  fometimes  walks  upon  all  four.  And  the  Briftol  mer- 
chant, above  mentioned,  fays,  that  the  fmalleft  clafs  of  this 
fpecies,  called  Chimpenza  by  the  natives,  walks  oftener  on  all 
four,  than  upright:}:.     And  there  is  a  French  writer,  La  BrofTe, 

who 

•  Page  281. 
f  Ibid.  p.  282. 
j"  Ibid.  p.  282. 


Chap.  ir.       A  NTIENT    METAPHYSICS.  31 

who  has  made  a  colledion  of  voyages  in  the  South  Seas,  one  of 
which  gives  an  account  of  an  ifland,  where  the  people,  though  they 
be  fo  far  advanced  in  the  arts  of  life,  as  to  have  the  ufe  of  fpeech, 
yet  walk  fometimes  upon  all  four.  This,  I  think,  fhews  very  clear- 
ly, that  originally  they  walked  upon  all  four,  as  well  as  the  Ourang 
Outang;  and  that  they  have  not  been  very  long  from  that  primaeval 
ftatCj  any  more  than  the  Ourang  Outang.  Thefe  examples,  I  think, 
prove  very  clearly  what  I  have  laid  down  in  the  preceding  chapter, 
that  man,  in  the  firft  ftage  of  his  natural  life,  was  a  quadruped ;  fo 
that  it  was  very  natural  he  fhould  retain  that  way  of  walking,  in 
the  firft  ftages  of  his  civilized  life. 

This  account  I  have  given  of  the  Ourang  Outang,  agrees  perfed- 
ly  with  the  defcription  which  Horace  gives  us  of  man,  in  the  firft 
ftage  of  his  exiftence  on  this  earth.  I  quoted  it  above,  p.  27. ;  but 
I  Will  give  it  here  entire. 

Cum  prorepferunt  primls  animalia  terris, 
Mutum  ac  turpe  pecus,  glandem  atquc  cubilia  propter, 
Unguibus  et  pugnis,  dein  fuftibus,  atque  ita  porro 
Pugnabant  armis,  quae  poft  fabricaverat  ufus  : 
Donee  verba,  quibus  voces  fenfufque  notarent, 
Nominaque  invenere:  Dehinc  abflftere  bello. 

&.C. 

This  account  of  man,  in  his  firft  ftate,  applies  fo  exadlly  to  the 
Ourang  Outang,  that  it  may  be  faid  to  be  a  defcription  of  him  ;  for 
man  is  laid  firft  to  creep,  that  is,  to  go  upon  all  four,  and  then  he 
is  very  properly  denominated  muium  ac  turpe  pecus.  After  that,  he  is 
ere<3:ed,  and  gets  the  ufe  of  an  artificial  weapon?  fuch  as  the  Ourang 
Outang  ufes.  Next,  he  invents  rude  and  barbarous  cries,  which  Mr 
Begg  calls  chattering  guttural  founds,  quibus  voces  fenfufque  nota- 
rent^ that  is.  by  which  men  communicated  their  fenfations,  appe- 
tites, and  defires  to  one  another.    And,  laft  of  all,  they  formed  ideas, 

and 


3«  ANTIENT    METAPHYSICS-         Book  1. 

and  invented  words  to  exprefs  them,  which  Horace  calls  nomina. 
But  this  is  a  ftep  in  the  progrefs  towards  the  civilized  life,  which 
the  Ourang  Outang  has  not  yet  made.  This  hiftory  of  man,  I  am 
perfuaded,  Horace  learned  from  the  philofophers  with  whom  he 
converfed  in  Athens ;  and  1  hold  it  to  have  been  the  general  opi- 
nion of  the  Greek  philofophers  at  that  time,  and  particularly  of  the 
Epicureans,  who  ftudied  fads  of  natural  hiftory  very  much  *.  Of 
this  led  Horace  was,  though  not  wholly  addided  to  it  ; 

(Nullius  addiiElus  (as  he  fays)  jurare  in  verba  magiftri.) 

but  getting  all  the  information  he  could  from  the  other  feds  of  phi- 
lofophy. 

There  are,  I  know,  many,  who  will  think  this  progrefs  of  man, 
from  a  quadruped  and  an  Ourang  Outang  to  men  fuch  as  we  fee 
them  now  a  days,  very  difgraceful  to  the  fpecies.  But  they  fliould 
confider  their  own  progrefs  as  an  individual.  In  the  womb,  man  is 
no  better  than  a  vegetable  ;  and,  when  born,  he  is  at  firft  more  im- 
perfed,  I  believe,  than  any  other  animal  in  the  fame  ftate,  wanting 
almoft  altogether  that  comparative  faculty,  which  the  brutes,  young 
and  old,  poffefs  f.  If,  therefore,  there  be  fuch  a  progrefs  in  the  in- 
dividual, it  is  not  to  be  wondered  that  there  (hould  be  a  progrefs  al- 
fo  in  the  fpecies,  from  the  mere  animal  up  to  the  intelledual  crea- 
ture :  But,  on  the  contrary,  1  fliould  think  it  not  agreeable  to  that 
wonderful  order  and  progreffion  of  things  that  we  obferve  in  na- 
ture, if  it  Vv'ere  otherwife  j  for  the  fpecies,  with  refped  to  the  ge- 
nus. 


•  Epicurus  was  a  diligent  inquirer  into  fa£ls  of  natural  hiftory,  particularly  con- 
cerning tlie  progrefs  of  men  in  the  invention  of  arts.  And  accordingly  Lucretius 
tells  us,  that  he  difcovered  that  men  learned  mufic  f  om  the  (inging  of  birds,  which,  as 
I  (hall  prefently  fliew,  is  confirmed  by  what  I  learned  from  the  favage  girl  I  faw  ia 
France. 

f  See  wliat  I  have  faid  of  this  comparative  faculty,  p.  13.  of  this  volume. 


Ghap.  n.        ANTIENT    METAPHYSICS.  33 

nus,  is  to  be  confidered  as  an  Individual,  and  accordingly  it  is  called, 
by  Ariftotle,  t«  V,to/«4.  t-  't,h,. 

The  laft  ftep  of  this  progrcflion  I  likewife  faw,  and  it  was  a  great 
one.  It  was  the  wild  girl,  o^c  JiUe  fawvage^  as  the  French  called 
her,  who  came  from  a  country  where  the  people  had  learned 
to  articulate  very  imperfedly  indeed,  but  fufficiently  to  communi- 
cate their  wants  and  defires.  I  faw  her  in  Paris  about  26  years  ago, 
and  converfed  with  her  much,  as  fhe  had  been  then  in  Paris  for  fe- 
veral  years,  and  fpoke  French  well  enough.  She  was  taken  up  by 
a  French  fhlp  fomewhere  upon  the  coaft  of  Labradore,  and  was 
carried  to  one  of  the  Weft  India  iflands,  from  whence  fhe  failed 
in  a  fhip,  which  was  wrecked  upon  the  coaft  of  Flanders,  and 
only  fhe  and  a  negro  girl  were  faved.  Her  firft  appearance 
in  France  was  at  a  village  called  Songe,  near  to  Chalon  in  Cham- 
pagne, whither  I  went  to  inquire  about  her.  She  was  firft  {ttn 
there  fwimming  a  river,  and  coming  out  of  it  with  a  fifti  in  her 
hand,  which  fhe  had  caught  :  For  fhe  told  me,  that  in  her 
country  they  lived  like  beavers,  always  near  water,  and  caught 
the  fifti  with  their  hands,  by  diving,  as  the  people  of  the 
Ladrone  Iflands  do.  They  were  hunters,  too;  and  flie  and  the  ne- 
gro girl,  in  their  journey  from  Flanders,  fubfifted  on  game,  which 
they  caught  by  ipeed  of  foot.  She  faid,  that  in  her  country,  befides 
language,  they  had  a  certain  mufic,  which  they  had  formed  in  imitation 
of  birds.  But  they  had  no  ufe  of  fire,  and  in  that,  too,  they  refembled 
the  people  of  the  Ladrone  Iflands;  and  fhe  told  me,  that,  when  fhe  firft 
came  to  France,  a  fire  in  a  room  was  her  terror  and  abhorrence  ;  and 
the  eating  of  flefh,  drefl"ed  by  fire,  threw  her  into  a  very  bad  difeafe, 
of  which  fhe  recovered  with  much  difficulty.  She  was  wonderfully 
fwift  of  foot,  and  could  overtake,  in  that  way,  almoft  any  animal, 
and  then  knock  it  on  the  head  with  a  bludgeon  fhe  wore,  which 
Ihe  called  a  boutoUy  a  name  given,  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  Carrib- 

VoL.  IV.  E  bee 


54  ANTIENT   METAPHYSICS.        Book  1. 

bee  lilaEQi,  to  a  i^udgeoa ;  frcm  which  ii  appears  fhe  had  been  in  one 
of  thofe  iilar-ds,  in  her  way  from  America  to  France.  She  could  climb 
a  tree,  too,  like  a  iqnirrel,  and  leap  from  one  tree  to  another;  but 
all  tbefe  bodily  factjltief,  ihe  told  me,  "wkh  much  regret,  fiie  had 
left  at  the  tirr.e  I  faw  her.  Who-  would  deure  to  know  more  of  her, 
may  read  her  life,  publiihed  at  Edinburgh  in  the  year  1 768,  tranf- 
laied  from  the  French  by  a  clerk  cf  mine,  who  was  with  me  ia 
Frsnce.  The  faSs  contained  in  the  French  work,  I  was  aflured, 
nsighr  be  depended  on,  by  M.  la  Condamine,  who  knew  the  lady 
that  wrote  it.  In  the  preface  prefixed  to  the  tranflation,  I  have 
related  feveral  fzdth  concerning  her,  which  I  learned  from  the  girl 
herfelf  :  And  if  the  reader  be  defirous  to  know  ftill  more  concerning 
her,  he  may  read  a  converfation  that  1  had  with  her,  which  I  have 
printed  from  a  pocket  book  that  1  then  kept  ia  Paris,  and  have  publifti-- 
ed  in  the  appendix  to  this  volume. 


CHAP,. 


Chap.  III.       A  N  T  I  E  N  T  M  E  T  A  P  H  Y  S  I  C  S.  35 


CHAP.        III. 


The  frjl  flep  that  men  maJe^  in  their  progrefs  to  civilization,  was  to 
learn  the  ufe  oj  their  oitti  body — firft,  By  ereBing  themjcl-ues ; 
then  by  learning  the  uje  of  their  hands  ;  and  lajlly  to  fwim^—Sivim-^ 
ming  not  natural  to  man;  but  his  acquifitions  in  that  -way  ivonder- 

Jul.  —  Till  man  learned  the  life  of  his  oivn  body,   he  could  not  pro 
■vide  Jufficiently  for  his  fubJiJlence.—-At  fr/t  he  lived  u'^'on  th'  • 
ral  jruits  of  the  earth.  —  Theje  failing,  he  took    '' 

ffhing,   being   able  to  live  upon  any  kind  of  food.  ■ 
culture  could  furnijh  fubfflence  for  numbers  oj   moi, 
ther  in  clq/e  communication. — Before  fuch  aii  art  could  be       . 
and pra^iftdf  language  ivas  neceffary, 

FROM  thofe  examples  of  wild  men  I  have  mentioned,  it  is,  : 
think  evident,  that  the  firft  art  man  muft  have  learned,  war. 
the  ufe  of  his  own  body:  And  he  muft  have  begun  by  erefkin r 
himfelf,  without  which  he  could  not  have  had  the  advantage  of  the 
length  of  his  body,  for  attack  or  defence,  or  for  the  pradice  of  the 
feveral  arts  of  life.  Befides,  it  gave  him  the  ojyH^//w^— enabled  hiiu 
to  look  at  his  native  feat,  the  Heavens— and  gave  that  dignity  to  his 
appearance,  which  was  fuitable  for  an  animal  that  was  deftined  to 
govern  on  this  earth. 

The  neceftary  confequence,  too,  of  the  ered  pofture,   was  the  u: 
of  the  hands,  a  moft  ufeful  organ,  without  which,  as  Xenophon  h 

E  2  V 


36  ANTIENT   METAPHYSICS.        Book  I. 

well  obferved,  our  reafon  would  have  availed  us  little  in  the  inven- 
tion and  pradice  of  arts. 

Thus  far,  therefore,  the  Ourang  Outang  is  advanced  in  the  arts 
of  life  ;  but  he  ftill  retains  fo  much  of  his   primitive  natural   ftate, 
that  he  fometimes  goes  on  all  four,  as  Mr  Begg,   in  his  letter,  has^ 
faid,  and  alfo  the  French  gentleman,   above  quoted*. 

There  Is  another  ufe  of  the  body,  which  man  has  not  from  na- 
ture, as  many  other  animals  have,  but  has  learned  by  pradtice  or 
teaching,  I  mean  fwimming  :  For  of  the  Indians  of  North  America, 
who  excel  us  fo  much  in  bodily  feats,  none  can  fwim,  except  thofe 
who  live  near  the  fea,  or  a  great  river,  and  have  pradlifed  if,  as  A- 
dair  and  others,  who  have  publifhed  accounts  of  North  America,  tell 
us ;  and  the  wild  girl,  above  mentioned,  defcribed  to  me  very  parti- 
cularly, the  pains  her  mother  took  to  teach  her  to  fwim ;  but  with 
that  teaching  and  pradice,  (he  became  quite  amphibious,  fuch  as  the 
inhabitants  of  the  Ladrone  Iflands  are,  who  fubfift,  in  a  great  meafure, 
by  the  fi(h  which  they  catch  with  their  hands  in  the  fea ;  though  I 
am  perfuaded,  it  was  neceffity  which  firft  drove  man  to  feekfor  food" 
in  an  element  not  natural  to  him. 

There  is  a  weekly  publication  in  Spain,  called  Semanario  Erudito^ 
containing  many  curious  fads.  In  a  volume  of  it  publifhed  in 
1788,  there  is  a  piece  written  by  Don  Mechior  de  Macanaz,  a  gen- 
tleman of  great  learning,  who  was  employed  in  many  negociations, 
in  the  reign  of  Philip  V.  The  tranllation  of  it,  for  which  I  am 
obliged  to  a  very  learned  and  worthy  gentleman  of  my  acquain- 
tance, Dr  Geddes,  who  refided  for  ten  years  in  Spain,  I  have  given 


in 


*  P.  27.  of  this  vohimc.     See  alfo  vol.  III.  of  this  work,  p.  349,  and  361. 


Chap.  III.      ANTIENT   METAPHYSICS.  37 

in  the  note  below,  as  it  contains  feveral  other  curious  fads  concern- 
ing wild  men*. 

From 


*  "  Francis  de  la  Vega,  and  Mary  del  Cafar,  his  wife,  irihnbitants  of  the  village  of 
"  Llexganes,  in  the  territory  of  Cudeyo,  of  the  archbifliopric  of  Burgos,  two  leagues 
"  from  Santander,  had,  befides  other  children,  a  fon  called  Francis,  who,  at  the  age 
"  of  fifteen  years,  having  been  apprentice  to  a  joiner  for  two  years  at  Bilboa,  went 
"  to  fwim  whh  other  boys,  on  the  23d  of  June  in  the  year  1674,  and  difap- 
*'  peared  ;  nor  was  he  again  heard  of,  until  he  was  caught  like  a  fifh  in  the  fea 
'«  near  Cadiz,  in  the  year  1679.  He  did  not  now  fpeak  any  language;  but 
"  having  been  brought  to  a  convent  of  Francifcans,  he  pronounced  the  word 
"  Liexganes,  the  name  of  the  village  where  he  had  been  born.  From  this  it 
"  was  conjectured,  that  he  mull:  have  been  of  that  place,  and  thither  he  was  con- 
"  dudted,  and  his  mother  immediately  knew  him.  He  remained  there  nine  years : 
"  He  ate  what  they  gave  him ;  he  put  on  his  clothes  and  his  ftockings  and  flioes, 
"  if  he  was  deGred  to  do  fo  :  He  carried. a  letter  pundlualiy  enough  to  the  place  he 
"  was  ordered ;  and,  having  been  fent  with  one  to  Santander,  he  fwam  over  the 
"  bay,  which  is  more  than  a  league  bro.d  ;  and  when  he  had  got  the  anfwer,  he  re- 
"  turned  by  the  fame  way.  He  was  fix  feet  high ;  his  hair  was  red  and  ihort,  like 
"  to  3  new  bom  child's ;  his  complexion  was  fair.  He  feemed  to  be  incapable  of 
«  reafoning  by  himfelf ;  but  capable  of  underftanding  what  he  was  commanded  to 
•'  do.  He  had  lolt  the  habit  of  fpeech  :  Litxgaties,  pan,  vino,  tobacco,  were  all  the 
«'  words  that  he  fpoke,  and  thefe  not  to  the  purpofe.  His  two  brothers  were  then 
"  alive,  and  Don  1  homas,  the  elder,  was  a  prieft  After  nine  years  he  difappeared 
"  again,  and  was  never  feen,  that  we  know,  any  more."  Thus  far  the  account  of 
Francis  de  la  Vega. 

"  In  the  fame  paper,  Macanaz  makes  mention  of  Nicholas  of  Catania,  in  Sicily,, 
who  was  wont  to  fwim  round  that  ifland,  and  to  carry  meflages  all  around  in  that 
manner. 

"  He  alfo  mentions  a  woman,  who  was  found  on  the  coaft  of  Weft  Frlezeland 
in  the  year  1430,  and  could  never  be  taught  more  than  to  eat  as  we  do,  and  to  fpin,. 

Hft 


38  ANTIENT    METAPHYSICS.        Book!, 

From  the  fa£ls  related  in  this  Spanifli  work,  joined  with  what  I 
have  publilhed  concerning  mermaids  *,  it  appears,  that  the  human 
body  is  wonderfully  adapted  for  every  ufe,  to  which  we  can  con- 
ceive it  applicable  :  For  he  is  not  a  land  animal  only,  but  likewife  a 
fea  animal;  at  leaft  he  may  make  himfelf  fo.  And  when  he  is  fo 
made  he  is  more  truly  amphibious  than  any  other  animal  we 
know,  as  he  can  live  wholly  either  on  the  land  or  in  the  water, 
which  no  other  animal,  we  call  amphibious,  can  do. 

Man,  therefore,  is  fuperior  in  body  to  all  other  animals,  as  well 
as  in  mind  :  But  he  is  fo  much  a  creature  of  art,  that  without  art 
he  has  not  the  perfed  ufe  even  of  his  own  body.  Till  he  had  ac- 
quired that,  he  could  not  provide  properly  for  his  own  nourifhment, 
of  which  he  required  a  great  deal,  being,  in  his  original  ftate,  a 
large  animal,  without  difeafe,  long  lived,  and  all  employed  in  the 
great  work  of  nature,   the  propagation  of  the  fpecies.     At  firft,  I 

am 


*'  He  likewife  fays,  that  a  man,  to  whom  they  gave  the  name  of  Jofeph  Urfino, 
was  caught  in  tiie  woods  of  Lithuania,  but  could  never  be  taught  to  Ipeak.  He  was 
•found  with  bears. 

<«  Finally  he  tells  us,  that  about  the  year  1723,  one  of  the  inhabitants  of  Navar- 
rens,  a  town  of  Bearne  in  the  fouth  of  France,  when  hunting  in  the  Pireneaa 
mountains,  caught  a  wild  man,  and  endeavoured  to  taoie  him.  He  (laid  in  a  place 
called  Ornes,  and  although  they  brought  him  to  eat  of  whatever  others  eat ;  yet, 
when  he  came  to  the  fields  where  they  were,  he  devoured  ears  of  wheat,  as  if  they 
had  been  cherries  ;  but  they  could  not  teach  him  to  fpeak.  It  was  intended  to  carry 
him  to  the  Regent,  Duke  of  Orleans ;  but  when  thofe  that  kept  him  heard  of  the 
regent's  death,  they  became  fomething  more  carelefs  in  watching  him,  fo  that  he 
efcaped,  nor  could  they  ever  again  find  him.  He  was  in  every  refpe<S  like  to  other 
men  in  his  body,  and  it  was  thought  that  he  was  the  fon  of  a  miller  of  a  place  cal- 
led Cor.ipagna,  who  was  dead,  and  who  had  a  fon  that  had  dlfappeared  fome  years 
.before. 

:  •  Vol.  III.  of  this  work,  p.  254. 


Ghap.  III.      ANTIENT   METAPHYSICS.  39 

am  perfuaded,  men  lived  upon  the  herbs  and  roots  which  the  earth 
produced.  And  indeed,  men  in  the  firft  ftage  of  their  natural  ftate, 
when  they  walked  upon  all  four,  could  not  fupport  themfelves  other- 
wife  :  for  I  do  not  think  that  at  firfl  they  would  feek  food  from  the 
trees  ;  and  accordingly  it  is  recorded  that  Pelafgus  firfl:  taught  the 
Arcadians  to  feed  on  acorns.  Peter  the  Wi/d  Boy^  while  he  was  a 
quadruped  in  the  woods  of  Hanover,  fed  upon  grafles,  and  the 
mofs  of  trees.  This  account  we  have  of  him  from  Hanover,  im- 
mediately after  he  was  caught*.  And  not  only  can  perfedl 
favages  live  in  that  way;  bur  even  men  in  the  civilized  lifef.  But 
when  men  increafed  very  much  in  number,  which  they  certainly  did 
in  the  firft  ages  of  fociety,  the  natural  fruits  of  the  earth  could  not 
maintain  them.     And  therefore,, 


cum 


*'  See  vol.  Ill  of  this  work,  p.  58. 

f  Appian,  De  Betlis  Punicis,  p.  6.  and  63.  in  fini,  as  marked  upon  the  margin  of 
the  Litiii  tranflation  of  the  Amfterdam  edition.  In  the  laft  quoted  pafiage,  fpeaking 
of  the  Numidians,  he  has  thcfe  words,  to.  5roA>,aT*ri  »o,a»j4)»  Ttoa.  (pxyt!,>Tu>,  S'l*  t« 
«ys4'§7JiT»» ;  which  explains  the  reafon  why  they  fed  upon  grafs.  Diodorus  Siculus, 
lib.  3.  cap.  23.  where  he  gives  an  account  of  a  people  in  Ethiopia,  who  live  entirely 
upon  the  roots  of  reeds,  that  grow  in  the  marlhes.  See  a  great  deal  more  upon  this 
fubje£t,  which  I  have  collei^ed  in  vol.  III.  of  this  work,  p.  371.  and  following;  to 
which  I  may  add  the  example  of  a  man  from  Shetland,  wlio  died  within  thefe  two  or 
three  years.  His  nanie  was  Magnus  Graham.  He  was  employed  by  the  Hudfon's  Bay 
Company,  and  loft  his  way  in  that  country,  among  the  woods,  where  he  remained 
for  about  fix  months,  and  had  nothing  to  feed  upon  all  that  wjiile,  but  any  wild 
fruits  he  could  find,  which  could  not  be  many  in  fo  cold  a  country,  and  the  bark  of 
the  pine  tree,  which  was  his  chief  fubliflance.  Upon  this  diet  he  lived  all  the  time 
I  have  mentioned,  and  when  he  at  laft  found  his  way  back  to  the  factory,  he  was  lean 
indeed,  but  in  very  good  health.  This  account  I  had  from  a  gentleman  who  knew 
him  very  well,  and  told  me  upon  what  occafion  he  was  wandering  in  the  woods, 
when  he  loft  his  way,  and  by  what  accident  he  got  back  again  to  the  faiTlcry ;  but; 
thefe  particulars  it  is  unnccelT^ry  here  to  relate. 


40  ANTIENT    METAPHYSICS.        Book  I. 

.  cum  jam  glandes  atque  arbuta  facrae 

Deficerent  fylvae,  et  vidum  Dodona  negaret, 

then,  and  not  till  then,  they  took  to  hunting  and  fifliing  ;  for  a 
flefli  or  filh  diet  I  hold  to  be  unnatural  to  man,  as  unnatural  as  to  aa 
horfe  or  ox  *.  But  fo  pliable  is  the  human  conftitution,  that  he  can 
fuit  himfelf  to  it,  and  even  become  very  fond  of  it ;  and  it  was  fit 
that  he  fliould  be  fuch  an  animal,  as  he  was  deftined,  by  God  and 
Nature,  to  fpread  all  over  the  earth,  and  to  live  in  every  country 
and  climate  of  it. 

That  man,  before  he  took  to  agriculture,  lived  upon  the  natural 
fruits  of  the  earth,  and  by  hunting  and  fifhing,  is  well  known  to 
thofe  who  have  (ludied  the  hiftory  of  man  in  antient  books.  Dio- 
dorus  Siculus  f  has  given  us  an  account  of  many  favage  nations  in 
India,  and  upon  the  coafts  of  the  Red  Sea,  who  lived  altogether  up- 
on the  natural  fruits  of  the  earth,  or  upon  hunting  and  fifliing, 
which  they  pradifed  in  many  different  ways,  fome  of  them  very  ex- 
traordinary ;  and  1  think  this  is  a  very  curious  and  entertaining  part 
of  his  work,  which  is  preferved  to  us,  as  it  {hews  us  that  man,  in  his 
diet  and  manner  of  life,  as  well  as  in  other  refpeds,  is  the  moft  va- 
rious animal  on  this  earth.  But  it  is  not  neceflary  that  we  {hould 
go  to  antient  books,  to  be  informed  that  man  can  live  in  that  way, 
and  even  prefer  it  to  the  life  of  agriculture  ;  For  a  great  part  of  the 
Tartars  at  this  day  live  in  that  way,  travelling  in  hords  from  place  to 
place  in  fearch  of  food  ;  and  it  is  an  execretion  among  them,  That  a 
man  may  be  condemned  to  live  in  one  place,  and  to  labour  like  a  Ruf- 
fian. But  in  this  nomad  life,  men  could  have  no  regular  polity,  nor  be 

governed 

*  That  it  was  necefflty  which  Erft  drove  men  to  this  unnatural  diet,  is  the  opi- 
nion of  Plutarch,  a-s^i  s-u^xo^ayix;,  p.  4j6.  cdit.  Frobein. 

\  Book  3d.  cap.  ij.  and  fol'.owing. 


Gliap.  III.       A  N  T  I  E  N  T    METAPHYSICS.  4^ 

governed  by  laws.  For  that  piirpofe  it  was  neceflary  that  they  fliould 
have  a  fixed  habitation,  and  live  together,  in  confiderable  numbers, 
in  one  place,  for  which  agriculture  is  abfolutely  necefTdry ;  and 
therefore  Ceres  was  very  properly  faid,  not  only  to  be  the  goddefs 
of  agriculture,  but  of  laws  j  and  for  that  reafon  flie  was  called 
Qicftiifcfci*.  Without  fuch  a  life,  by  which  men  have  the  clofeH:  in- 
tercourfe  and  communication,  they  could  not  have  invented  any  arts 
and  fciences  worth  mentioning,  and  confequently  could  not  have 
made  that  progrefs  in  the  recovery  from  their  fallen  (late,  which,  by 
God  and  Nature,  they  are  deftined  to  make  even  in  this  life.  But 
in  order  to  qualify  man  to  live  in  that  Rate  of  fociety,  the  ufe  of 
language  was  abfolutely  neceflary,  an  art,  without  which  there  cou'd 
have  been  neither  fciences  nor  arts  of  any  value,  nor  civility  or  regu- 
lar government  among  men.  The  pradice  of  this  art  belongs  to 
the  fubje£t  of  which  I  am  treating  in  this  chapter;  I  mean  the  ufe  of 
the  organs  of  the  human  body.  But  they  are  organs  infinitely  more 
delicate  than  the  arms  and  legs,  which  are  .the  only  organs  I  have 
hitherto  mentioned,  being  very  much  fmaller,  and  concealed,  for  the 
greater  part,  in  the  mouth;  nor  is  the  ufe  of  them  prompted  by  nature 
fo  much  as  that  of  thofe  other  two.  As  Language  is  an  art  of  the 
greateft  ufe,  and  which  may  be  faid  to  have  made  man  fuch  as  we 
fee  him,  and  as  it  is  at  the  fame  time  of  mod  difficult  invention 
and  yet  muft  have  been  the  firft  art  of  any  confequence  invented  bv 
man^  being,  as  I  have  faid,  the  foundation  of  all  other  arts,  I  think 
k  is  not  poffible  that  man,  without  fome  fupernatural  afliftance 
could  have  invented  an  art,  of  which  even  the  prad:ice,  afce*-  it  is 
invented,  is  very  difficult  to  be  learned,  and  can  hardly  be  learned 
Vol.  IV.  F  at 


•  Diodorus,  lib.  5.  cap.  68.  and  cap.  5.  In  which  laft  paflage  he  makes  a  very  pro- 
per eulogium  upon  her,  where  he  fays,  "  that  there  could  not  be  a  greater  benefac- 
''  tion  to  men,  than  what  {he  beftowed  upon  them ;  for  fhe  not  only  gave  them  the 
♦•  means  of  life,  but  taught  them  how  to  live  properly." 


42  ANTIENT    METAPHYSICS.        Book  1. 

at  all,  except  in  our  earlieft  and  moft  dccible  years.  But  of  the  in- 
vention and  perfedlon  of  this  art,  which  is  fo  capital  a  part  of  the 
hiftory  of  man,  I  will  fay  a  great  deal  more  in  the  fequel.  In 
the  mean  time  I  will  proceed  to  give  an  account  of  man  in  this  fe- 
cond  ftage  of  his  natural  ftate,  after  he  is  ereded,  and  has  got  the 
ufe  of  his  hands  and  feet,  but  before  he  has  learned  the  ufe  of  laa- 
guage,  or  of  laws  and  government. 


CHAP,- 


-Chap.  IV.       ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  43 


CHAP.        IV, 


Of  the  habitation  of  man  in  the  natural  Jl ate, — //  ivas  in  cave', 
*which  nature  furniJJjed,  or  ivhich  he  dug  out  of  the  rocks. — This 
proved  by  the  authority  of  antient  authors-^- and  monuments  Jlill  ex- 
tjling. — Man  as  various  in  the  form  of  his  body,  as  in  any  thing 
elfe. — Of  men  toith  tails.  —  Of  Satyrs y  ivith  feet  of  gcatSy  and 
*with  horns  upon  their  heads. — This  proved  by  the  tejlimony  of  St. 
Jerome. — Of  men  ivithout  heads,  but  ivith  eyes  in  their  breafls ; — > 
and  of  men  ivith  only  one  eye  in  their  forehead .—~Thefe  facts  attejl- 
ed  ^/  St.  Auguftlne. — Of  men  ivith  the  heads  of  dogs— -proved  by 
the  teflimony  of  fever  al  authors. — Of  the  Sphynx, — The  exiflcnce 
of  fuch  an  animal  only  attefed  by  Agar thar chides. — This  author 
had  a  very  good  opportunity  of  being  informed. — His  ivork  is  ex- 
tant,  and  bears  no  7nark  of  fable  or  romance. —  No  proof  that  fuch 
animals  did  never  exifiy  that  they  are  not  noiv  to  be  found. — Rea- 
fon  ivhy  they  fioould  have  ceafed  to  exifl. — The  ivonderful  variety 
of  the  outivard  form  of  man,  as  ivell  as  of  his  inivard  form.  — Of 
the  variety  of  the  fze  of  men  in  diferent  ages  and  different  nations  of 
'the  Ivor  Id. — The  civilized  I fe  makes  a  great  difference  in  this  re- 
fpefl. — But  there  is  a  difference  alfo  in  the  natural  flat e. — This 
proved  by  the  example  of  the  Ourang  Outang, 

THAT  man  is  more  varIous,'in  his  diet  and  manner  of  life,  than 
any  other  animal,  fo  various,  that  he  is  both  a  land  and  a  fea 
animal,  I  think  I  have  proved  in  the  preceding  chapter.  A  fhelter 
from  the  weather,  and  an  habitation  at  land,  Nature  furniflied  him, 
while  in  the  ftate  of  nature,  as  well  as  his  food ;  for  he  was  proted- 

F  2  ed 


44  A  K  T  I  E  X  T    METAPHYSICS.         Book  I. 

ed  from  the  injuries  of  the  vreather  by  thickets,  rocks,  and  caves, 
la  caves  the  Cyclops,  as  Homer  tells  us,  lived ;  and  in  the  fame  way, 
fays  Dionyfius,  lived  the  Cureies  in  Crete  *.  The  antient  inhabi- 
tants of  Italy  lived  in  the  hollows  of  trees ;  and  the  New  Hollan- 
ders do  the  fame  at  this  day  f.  This  laft  mentioned  habitation  Na- 
ture has  provided  for  man,  and  alfo  caves  in  many  places :  As  to 
thefe,  vrhere  Nature  did  not  furnifh  them,  men  have  fupplied  the 
want  by  labour  and  art.  Diodorus  tells  us,  that  in  his  time  the  in- 
habitants of  the  Balearic  Iflands  dwelt  in  caves  which  they  dug  out 
of  the  rocks  %•  But  before  men  could  do  this,  they  muft  have  made 
feme  progrefs  towards  a  life  of  civility  and  arts ;  for  at  firft  I  am 
perfuaded,  they  ufed  no  other  protedion  againft  the  weather,  but 
fuchasthe  brutes  ufe;  that  is,  what  nature  has  provided.  When  that 
was  found  not  fufficient,  it  was  very  natiu'al  that  men  fhould  make 
to  themfelves  habitations  in  the  rocks,  or  under  ground,  before  they 
learned  to  raife  above  ground  that  artificial  habitation  we  call  a 
houfe.  And  I  am  perfuaded,  that  thole  excavations  of  rocks  that 
are  to  be  feen  in  AbyiTmia,  and  other  parts  of  the  world,  and  parti- 
cularly in  the  ifland  of  Elephantis,  off  the  coaft  of  Bombay,  where 
there  are  to  be  feen,  not  only  fingle  houfes,  but  little  cities  and 
ftreets,  all  cut  out  of  the  rocks  §,  were  all  the  original  habitations  of 
men. 

That 

•  Lib.  5.  cap.  65. 

f  Vol.  III.  of  this  work,  p.  83. 
}  Diidorus,  cap.  1 7. 

5  See  vol.  III.  of  tKis  work,  p.  83.  and  84.  Tht  fame  excavations  of  rocks  are 
to  be  feen  in  another  ifland,  called  Salfei,  near  to  Gca.  See  Letters  upon  the  Origin 
of  the  Sciences,  p.  312.  addreSed  to  M.  Voltaire  by  M.  Bailly,  printed  in 
1777.  See  alfo  Churchhill's  -voyages,  vol.  4th.  p.  154,  where  we  hare,  from  the 
famous  traveller  Gemelli,  an  account  of  the  excavations  in  the  ifland  of  Sal/et.  We 
have  an  account,  L'kewife,  of  tfcofe  of  Elephantis,  horn  Hamilton's  New  Account  of 
the  Eaft  Indies,  vol.  ift.  chap.  i:.  p.  245.     Sec  alfo  Bryanrs  Mythology,  vol.  3d,  p. 

t6i. 


Chap.  IV.      ANTIENT   METAPHYSICS.  45 

That  clothes,  as  well  as  houfes,  were  the  inventions  of  art,  and 
not  uled  by  man  In  his  natural  ftaie,  I  hold  to  be  certain.  Our  fa- 
cred  books  have  told  us,  that  the  firft  men  were  niked,  as  the  inha- 
bitants of  the  Ladrone  and  Pelew  Iflands  are  at  this  day.  And  the 
fame  books  tell  us,  that  the  firft  clothing  of  men  was  {kins,  fuch  as 
the  inhabitants  of  Terra  del  Fuego,  and  many  other  barbarous  na- 
tions, wear  at  prefent. 

Nor  is  man  lefs  various  in  the  figure  of  his  body,  than  In  the  o- 
ther  things  I  have  mentioned  ;  and  the  individuals  of  the  fpecies 
are,  I  am  perfaaded,  more  different  one  from  another  than  thofe  of 
any  other  fpecies.  And  firft,  that  there  are  men  with  tails,  fuch  as 
dogs  and  cats  have,  1  think  I  have  proved  beyond  the  poflibility  of 
doub:  *•  And  not  only  are  there  tailed  men  extant ;  but  men, 
fuch  as  the  antients  dtfcribe  Satyrs,  have  been  found,  who  had 
not  only  tails,  but  the  feet  of  goats,  and  horns  on  their  heads. 
One  of  this  kind,  we  are  told  by  St.  Jerome,  was,  under  the 
reign  of  Conftantine  the  Emperor,  publicly  fhewn  in  Alexandria, 
while  he  was  alive  ;  and  after  he  was  dead,  his  body  was  preferved 
with  fait,  carried  to  Antioch,  and  there  ihewn  to  the   Emperor  f  : 

So 


561.  562.  There  are  likewife  to  be  feen  in  Upper  Egypt,  near  to  Thebes,  Syringes, 
conGiting  of  many  paflages,  which  lead  to  a  variety  of  apartments.  See  Ammianus 
Marcellinus,  lib.  22.  p.  263.  And  there  were  in  that  part  of  Judea  called  Galilee, 
Subterrants,  where  dwelt  great  numbers  of  men,  as  Jofephus  informs  us,  lib.  14.  cap. 
15.     See  alfo,  upon  this  fubjecV,  Bryant's  Mythology,  vol.  3d,  p.  502,  503. 

•  Vol.  I.  of  Origin  of  Language,  xd  edit.  p.  Z57.  and  following;  and  vol.  IlL  of 
this  work,  p.  250  Belides  thefe  authorities,  there  is  one  Wolfe,  a  German,  who  tra- 
velled in  the  iflacd  of  Ceylon,  and  who  fays,  that  one  of  the  titles  of  the  Kicg  of 
that  iiland,  is  Dejiendani  of  the  Tailad  Monarch. 

\  Tome  I.  of  St.  Jerome's  Works, 


46  A  N  T  I  E  N  T   M  E  T  A  P  H  Y  S  I  C  S.         BookX 

So  that  we  ought  not  to  treat  as  a  fable,  what  the  antients  have  toM 
us  of  animals  of  that  form*. 

We  have  the  authority  of  another  father  of  the  church,  for  a. 
greater  fmgularity  ftill  of  the  human  form  ;  and  that  is,  of  men 
without  heads,  but  with  eyes  in  their  breads.  This  is  related  by  St, 
Auguftine,  who  faw  thefe  men  in  Ethiopia,  whether  he  went  to 
preach  the  gofpel  ;  and  was  fome  time  among  them,  and  relates  fe- 
veral  other  particulars  concerning  them  f.  And  the  fame  faint  tells 
us,  that  he  faw,  in  the  fame  country,  men  with  only  one  eye  in  their 
forehead  %,  Nor  do  thefe  fads  reft  folely  upon  the  authority  of  St. 
Auguftine  ;  but  antient  authors  mention  them,  particularly  Strabo, 
who  tells  the  ftory  of  men  with  eyes  in  their  breafts,  which  he  fays 
is  attefted  by  feveral  authors  whom  he  names,  though  he  does  not 
believe  them.  Asto  the  men  with  one  eye,  it  is  related  by  Herodotus, 
of  a  people  in  Scythia,  who,  from  that  quality,  had  their  name  of 
Arlmafpians,  as  he  interprets  the  word  §.  We  muft  not  therefore 
treat  as  a  fable  what  Homer  has  told  us  of  the  Cyclops,  any  more 
tlian  what  is  related,  by  other  antient  authors,  of  Satyrs. 

There  is  another  fmgularity  of  the  human  form,  as  great  or 
greater  than  any  I  have  hitherto  mentioned,  and  that  is,  of  men 
with  the  heads  of  dogs.  That  fuch  men  did  exift,  is  attefted  by  the 
authors  I  have  eliewhere  mentioned  [],   whofe  authorities  cannot,  I 

think. 


•  See  vol.  III.  of  this  work,  p.  250.  where  Paufanias  is  quoted  giving  an  accounc 
of  Satyrs,  which  he  had  from  one  Euphemus,  who  was  an  eye  witnefs  of  what  at 
related. 

f  Vol.  III.  of  this  work,  p.  2J2. 

If  Ibid.  p.  253. 

§  Ibid.  p.  252.— -253. 

I  Ibid.  p.  263.  and  264. 


Chap.  IV.       ANTIENT   METAPHYSICS.  47 

think,  be  queftloned.  One  of  them,  by  name  Agatharcbides,  fays, 
that  they  were  to  be  feen  in  Alexandria  in  his  time,  having  been 
fent  thither  from  Ethiopia  and  the  country  of  the  Troglodites.  So 
that  it  appears,  that  the  Latrator  Anubis^  as  Virgil  calls  him,  which 
was  the  form  of  one  of  the  Egyptian  gods,  was  not  an  imaginary 
form,  but  taken  from  real  life. 

This  author,  Agatharchides,  mentions  another  animal  of  mixed 
form,  having  the  head  of  a  man  and  the  body  of  a  lion,  fuch  as  he 
is  reprefented  in  ancient  fculpture,  and  is  called  a  Sphynx.  He  fays 
he  was  fent  to  Alexandria  from  Ethiopia,  with  the  dog-headed  man 
above  mentioned.  And  he  defcribes  him  ta  be,  by  nature,  a  tame 
and  gentle  animal,  and  capable  of  being  taught  motion  to  mufic  ; 
whereas  the  dog -headed  men,  he  fays,  were  exceedingly  fierce,  and 
very  difficult  to  be  tamed  *.  According,  therefore,  to  this  author, 
the  fphynx  was  no  imaginary  animal,  but  had  a  real  exiftence,  as 
well  as  the  dog-headed  men.  Agatharchides,  however,  is  the  only 
author,  as  far  as  I  know,  who  mentions  the  fphynx,  as  an  animal 
adually  exifting;  whereas  the  dog  headed  men  are  mentioned  by  fe- 
veral  other  authors  It  may  be  obferved,  however,  that  Agatharchi- 
des had  an  opportunity  of  being  very  well  informed  ;  for  he  lived 
about  the  time  of  Ptolemy,  III.  king  of  Egypt,  who  had  a  great 
curiofity  to  be  informed  about  the  wild  men  of  Ethiopia,  and  for 
that  purpofe  fent  men  to  that  country,  particularly  one  Symmias, 
from  whom  Agatharchides  got  his  information  f.  And  I  am  difpofcd 
to  believe  that  he  was  well  informed  ;  for  I  have  read  his  book,  and  1 
think  it  has  all  the  appearance  of  being  an  authentic  narrative,  with- 
out any  mixture  of  fable,  unlefs  we  are  difpofed  to  believe,  that  there 
never  exifted,  on  this  earth,  men  different  from  thofe  we  fee  now. 

But 

•  Vol.  III.  of  this  work,  p.  264. 
t  Ibid.  p.  50. 


48  ANTIENT    METAPHYSICS.         Bookl. 

Bat  the  variety  of  nature  is  fo  great,  that  I  am  convinced  of  the 
truth  of  what  Ariftotle  fays,  that  every  thing  exifts,  or  did  at  fome 
time  exift,  which  is  poflible  to  exift  *.  And  though  ic  were  certain 
that  fuch  animals  as  the  fphins,  or  the  other  animals  that  1  have 
mentioned,  did  no  longer  exift  on  this  earth,  it  would  not  from 
thence  follow,  that  they  never  exifted.  I  do  not  believe  that  men 
with  eyes  in  their  breafts,  or  with  only  one  eye  in  their  forehead, 
are  now  to  be  found  on  the  face  of  the  earth  :  And  yet  I  think  we 
cannot  doubt  that  they  once  exifted  in  Ethiopia,  where  St.  Auguf- 
tine  fays  he  faw  them.  We  are  fure  that  there  are  whole  fpeciefes 
of  animals,  which  were  once  in  certain  countries,  but  are  not  now 
to  be  found  there,  fuch  as  wolves  in  Britain.  It  is  not  probable  that 
fuch  compounded  animals,  as  the  dog-headed  man  and  the  fphynx, 
were  ever  very  numerous ;  and  if  fo,  it  is  likely  that  they  would  be 
confidered  as  monfters  by  the  other  men  of  the  country,  and  fo 
.would  he  .dellroyed  by  themf. 

Befides  thefe  varieties  in  the  whole  form  of  man,  there  is  a  va- 
riety in  one  part  of  him,  which  I  think  wonderful,  though,  as  it  is 
fo  familiar  to  us,  it  be  not  commonly  obferved.  The  part  I  mean 
is  the  face,  in  which  a  man  may  obferve,  in  a  crowd  of  people,  or 
walking  the  ftreets  of  a  populous  city,  fuch  a  variety  of  form,  and 
figure,  and  features  exprefling  different  difpofiiions  and  fentiments, 
as  is  really  wonderful. 

Thus  I  think  I  have  fhewn,  that  man  is  more  various  In  the  form 
of  his  body,  than  in  any  thing  elfe;  and  that  there  is  a  peculiarity 

in 

■*  See  what  I  have  faid  in  explanation  of  this  maxim,  in  vol.  Ill,  of  this  work, 
p.  261. 

f  Vol.  III.  of  this  work,  p.  263. 


Chap.  IV.      A  N  T  I  E  N  T   M  E  T  A  P  H  Y  S  I  G  S.  49 

in  the  form  of  fome  of  the  individuals  of  the  fpecies,  which  is  not 
to  be  found  in  any  other  fpecies ;  I  mean  the  mixture  of  different 
fpeciefes  in  the  fame  animal.  And  yet  I  think  it  is  not  unnatural,  if 
we  confider  how  much  his  inward  part  or  mind  is  compounded  ; 
for  it  confifts  not  only  of  the  vegetable  and  the  animal  life,  but  of 
the  intelledual  ;  and  if  fo,  I  think  it  needs  not  be  wondered,  that 
his  nature  fhould  admit  of  a  compofitlon  Ilkewife,  in  his  outward 
form,  of  different  fpeciefes  of  animals. 

As  to  the  Cue  and  flature  of  men  in  the  different  ages  and  na- 
tions, it  would  be  indeed  extraordinary,  if  in  an  animal,  the  moft  va- 
rious upon  <:his  earth,  there  was  not  found  the  common  variety  of 
great  and  fmall,  a  variety  which,  I  believe,  is  to  be  found  in  every 
other  animal  on  this  earth.  That  fuch  a  variety  does  in  fa£l  exift  in 
our  fpecies,  I  think  I  have  proved  beyond  all  doubt  in  the  third  vo- 
lume of  this  work*,  where  I  have  (hewn,  that  not  only  in  different 
nations  there  is  a  great  difference  of  fize,  but  in  the  fame  nation  in 
different  ages ;  and  that  it  is  in  the  natural  ftate  that  men  are  larger 
in  body,  ftronger,  and  longer  lived  :  And  it  is  a  truth  of  reafon 
and  phllofophy,  as  well  as  of  fad  and  obfervation ;  for  the  eafe,  in- 
dulgence, and  luxury  of  the  civilized  life,  together  with  the  unna- 
tural diet,  and  all  thefe  continued  through  many  generations,  muft  ne- 
ceflarily  produce  a  great  degeneiacy  in  the  fize,  ftrength,  and  longe- 
vity of  men  ;  unlefs  we  believe,  that  man  could  invent  a  way  of 
living  more  conducive  to  the  health  and  ftrength  of  his  body,  than 
that  which  God  and  Nature  have  deftined  for  him.  If  we  fliould 
not  be  convinced  by  the  teftimony  of  profane  authors,  our  facred  " 
books  furnifh  us  demonflrative  proof;  for  they  tell  us,  that  before 
the  Flood,  when  men  lived  upon  vegetables,  that  is,   upon  the  natu- 

VoL.  IV.  G  ral 

"  Page  1 3  J,  and  following* 


50  ANTIENT    METAPHYSICS.         Book  L 

ral  diet,  they  were  very  much  longer  lived  than  after  the  Flood, 
when  they  fed  upon  flefti,  and  confequently  more  healthy,  and  of 
greater  fize  and  ftrength.  And  I  hold  that  they  have  been  degene- 
rating ever  fince,  and  ftill  continue  to  degenerate ;  which  every 
man,  who  has  lived  fo  long  as  I,  may  obferve  :  For  I  am  now- 
living,  as  Neftor  lived,  with  the  third  generation  ;  and  I  can  fay 
with   him,    '  That  I   have  feen  fuch  men   as   I   do  not  now  fee, 

•  nor  ever  expedl  to  fee*.'  And  1  think  I  can  add,  as  Neftor  does, 
'  That  with  fuch  men  I  lived  and  converfed.'  And  the  fame  poet  tells 
us,  from  the  mouth  of  the  Goddefs  of  Wifdom,    '  That  the  children 

•  now  are  not  like  their  fathers  f.'  A  learned  Roman,  Solinus 
Polyhiftor,  aiks  the  queftion,  ^is  enhn  jam  aevo  nojiro  non  minor 
parentibus  Juis  iiafciturf  To  thefe  teftimonies  may 'be  added,  that  of 
the  Greek  philofopher  Empedocles,  who  fays,  '  That  the  men  of  his 

•  lime  were  of  the  fize  of  children,  compared  with  antient  men  |.' 
Who  would  defire  to  know  more  of  the  degeneracy  of  men,  in  fize  and 
ftrength,  may  confult  a  book  written  by  one  Fiermannus  Conrin- 
gius,  a  German,  entitled  De  Habitus  Corporum  Germanicorum^  antiqiii 
ac  Novi,  Cau/isy  where  he  will  find  many  curious  fads  concerning 
the  ftature  of  men,  and  a  great  deal  concerning  giants,  who  appear 
not  only  to  have  been  in  the  land  of  Canaan,  but  in  the  northern 
parts  of  Europe,  and  indeed  in  every  country  in  the  world,  of  whofe 

antient 


©»)«-|«  T*  Aiynh>t  £5r(M)nA«»  uiaiuTtiri, 

Iliad  I.  V.  262^ 

t  Ou  yue  T»(  »«(?«{  'tftuci  iritr^i  viXcnict, 

OdyiT,  II.  V,  273. 
Jl  Plutarchus,  De  Placiiis  Philofiphorum.^  in  the  end  of  that  work. 


Chap.  TV.      ANTIENT   METAPHYSICS.  51 

aritient  hiftory  we  are  well  informed.  And  it  appears  to  me,  that  in 
all  countries  there  have  been,  in  very  antient  times,  a  race  of  wild 
men  of  extraordinary  ftature,  the  remains  of  which  continued  ia 
fome  families  down  to  later  times.  Of  the  monuments  of  fuch  men 
there  are  many  exifting  in  different  parts  of  the  world ;  and  parti- 
cularly there  are,  in  the  north  of  Europe,  works  that  it  is  impo.Tible 
could  be  executed  by  men  fuch  as  we. 

But  we  are  not  to  imagine,  that  it  is  only  the  civilized  life  that 
makes  the  difference  of  the  feature  of  men.  In  the  natural  ftate 
there  is  a  great  difference  ;  for  of  the  Ourang  Outangs,  who  are  cer- 
tainly in  the  natural  ftate,  there  are  three  kinds,  very  different  in 
their  fize.  The  firft,  which  are  called  Pongos  or  Impongos,  are  of 
very  great  fize,  betwixt  feven  and  nine  feet  high,  and  prodigiouily 
ftrong.  The  third  clafs  of  the  Ourang  Outangs,  or  Chimpenza,  as 
they  are  called,  are  only  about  the  height  of  five  or  fix  feet  when 
"they  are  ereded.  And  the  middle  kind,  or  Itzena,  as  they  are  cal- 
led, are  greater  than  the  Chimpenza,  but  lefs  than  the  Pongo  *  :  And 
that  there  were  pigmies  to  be  found  in  other  parts  of  the  world,  as 
■well  as  among  the  Ourang  Outangs,  I  think  I  have  proved  very 
clearly  in  the  third  volume  of  this  workf. 

After  man  had  learned  all  the  ufes  to  which  his  body  could  be 
applied,  and  had  made  himfelf  a  fea  animal  as  well  as  a  land,  fo  that 
he  was  in  every  refpedl  the  mod  various  animal  upon  this  earth,  I 
think  it  cannot  be  denied,  that  he  was  fuperior  to  all  other  animals 
here  below  in  bodily  faculties  :  And  I  will  only  add,  that  he  has 
from  nature  a  ftrength  of  conftitution,  fuch  as  no  other  animal  we 
know  has  :  For,  in  the  firft  place,   he  can  fubfifl   upon  every  thing 

G  2  the 

•  See  vol.  Ill  of  this  work,  p.  281 289. 

t  Ibid.  p.  136.  ', '  » 


V2  A  N  T  I  E  N  T    METAPHYSICS.         Book  I. 

the  earth  produces,  even  the  grafs  of  the  fields*  ;  and   not  only  up- 
on  the   fruits  of  trees,  but   upon  their  barks  ;  and  he  can  live  in 
all  climates  of  the  earth,  and  endure  the  greateft  extremuies  both  of 
heat  and  cold  t«     But  what  I  think  (hews  the  ftrength  of  his  confti- 
tution   more  than  any  thing  I  have  mentioned,   is  the  life  of  many 
people  of  falhion  in  great  towns,  particularly  in   London,   who   not 
only  feed  upon  what  I  call  an  unnatural  diet,  that  is  flefh,  and  drink 
ftrong  liquors,  but  ufe  fire,  which,  as  Horace  fays,  has  brought  upon 
the  earth  a  cohort  (he  might  have  faid  a  legion)  of  difeafes.    And  not 
only  do  they  not  work  off  the  effeds  of  this  unnatural  life  by  any  exer- 
cife  worth  mentioning  ;  but  they  do  not  even  enjoy  the  common  be- 
nefit of  air,  at  lead  of  a  pure  uncorrupted  air  j  for  if  fuch  an  air  was> 
to  be  got  in  a  city  like  London,  wliere  the  fuel  ufed  muft  neceflarily 
fill  the  air  with  fulphureous  vapours,  they  do  not  go  out  to  feek  ir» 
When   they  fay   they  go  oa/,  they  truly   go    zw,   as  they  do   not 
walk  the  flreets,  but  ufe  clofe  carriages,   in   which  they  may  be  faid 
to  be  poifoned  by  their  own  breath.     And  if  fuch  be  the  life  of  the 
people  of  fafl:iion  in  London,  how  much  worfe  muft  the  life  of  the 
vulgar  be,  who  befides  pradifing  arts  very  unfavourable  to  health, 
ufe  a  drink  the  raoft  pernicious  of  all  the  things   which  the  art  of 

man- 


*  Appian,  De  Bdlis  Pitnuis,  p.  6.  &  63.  in  fine.     Herodotus,  lib.  3.  cap.  28.  lib. 
8.  cap,  115. 

f  There  is  a  book  written  upon  this  fubje^  by  a  German  of  the  name  of  Zim- 
merman, entitled,  Zoographie  Geographique,  where  he  tells  us,  that  man  can  live 
where  the  mercury  falls  126  degrees  below  Zero,  according  to  Fahrenheit's 
thermometer,  which  is  the  greateft  cold  that  art  can  produce  by  the  mixture  of 
fal  amoniac  and  ice.  This  cold,  he  fays,  the  bears  in  Nova  Zembia  cannot  bear,  nor 
any  other  animal,  except  man  and  the  whit-  fox.  And  he  tells  us,  that  in  Green- 
land the  men  have  their  bodies  very  flightly  covered,  their  head  and  neck  quite  unco- 
vered, and  no  fires  in  their  huts.  As  to  heat,  he  relates,  upon  the  authority  of  a 
French  academician,  that  women  can  work  in  an  oven  heated  to  the  degree  of  275, 
by  the  fame  thermometer,  which  the  academician  fays  he  faw. 


Chap.  IV.       ANTIENT   METAPHYSICS.  s3 

man  has  invented  for  his  own  deftrudion,  I  mean  fpirituous  liquors, 
which,  fo  far  from  being  fit  for  the  drink  of  any  animal,  are  fuel 
for  fire,  producing  a  quick  and  violent   flame.     The   being  able  to 
endure  fuch  a  life  for  any  number  of  years,  and  without  that  regi- 
men which  the  antients  ufed  conflantly  for  the  prefervation  of  their 
health,  I   mean   bathing,  anointing,   and   fridion   with   a  kind    of 
curry-comb,    which    they  called    Sfrigil,    fhews,    in    my    opinion, 
a  greater  ftrength  of  conftitution  than  that  of  the  inhabitants  of  an 
ifland  a  degree  farther  fouth  than  the  Straits  of  Magellan,  whom 
Sir  Francis  Drake  faw  quite  naked  ;  or  than  the  inhabitants  of  Ter- 
ra del  Fuego,   who  are  very  flightly  clothed,   wearing   nothing  but 
Ikins  loofely  tacked   about  them,  and   yet  have  no   difeafe,    as  far 
as  we  know,  except   blear  eyes,  which  they  have  got  from  hang- 
ing over  the  fire,  the  ufe  of  which  they  appear  to  have  learned  from 
fome  of  the  nations  upon  the  continent,   and   in   that  refpecSt  were 
more  unfortunate  than  the  inhabitants  of  the  Ladrone  Iflands,  or  of 
the  country  from  which  the  favage  girl,   whom   I   faw  in  France, 
came. 

That  this  way  of  living  mufl  (horten  life,  is  evident.  But  what 
1  think  much  worfe,  it  makes  that  fhort  life  end  with  a  long  and 
miferable  death  :  For  fuch  men  are  nine  years  a  killing,  the  death  that 
Othello  in  the  Play  wiflies  that  Caffio  may  die.  And  I  have  knowa 
fome  of  them,  that  were  20  years  a  killing  by  doftors  and  apothe- 
caries ;  a  death  infinitely  more  miferable  than  that  of  DamieUj, 
which  lalled  only  one  day. 


C  H  A  F. 


54  ANTIENT    METAPHYSICS,        Boak  L 


CHAP.        V. 


Vf  the  chamber  of  man  in  bis  natural  Jlate^—Not  knoivn  ivhat  his 
charaShr  ivas  in  the  jirjl  Jlage  of  that  fate,  ivhen  he  ivas  a  qua- 
druptd ; — but  from  -what  ive  knoiv  of  the  Ourang  Outang,  man  in 
the  fecond  ftage  of  his  progreffion^  is  a  facial,  friendly  animal^  and 
capable  of  tntelled  and  fcience. — To  judge  of  a  man  in  the  civi- 
lized fate,  after  he  has  got  the  ufe  of  language,  a  dijlinftion  is  to 
be  made  betxvixt  thofe  ivho  live  by  hunting,  and  thofe  ivho  fubfifi 
upon  the  fruits  of  the  earth.-— The  inhabitants  of  the  Peleiv  I/lands 
a  fpecimm  of  ivhat  men  are  in  the  firf  Jlate  of  civilization,  and 
before  they  are  hunters.  —  The  zurong  confru^ion  given  by  fome 
men  to  the  behaviour  of  ths  inhabitants  of  the  Peleiv  I/lands  to- 
ivards  us.— The  behaviour  of  the  Nciv  Zealanders  as  noble  and 

.    generous  as  that  of  the  Peleiv  men^ — A  remarkable  in/lance  oj  their 

,     behaviour  given, 

HAVING  laid  fo  much  of  the  body  of  man  In  his  natural  ftate, 
I  think  it  will  be  proper  to  fay  fomething  of  his  mind.  It 
is  by  mind,  chiefly,  as  Ariftotle  has  obferved,  that  the  feveral  fpeciefes 
of  animals  are  diflinguifhed  from  one  another.  And  the  feveral 
ftates  of  an  animal,  of  fuch  wonderful  progrefTion  as  man,  muft  be 
marked  by  a  great  difference  of  charader  or  difpofitioa  of  mind. 

AVhat  the  mind  of  man  was,  while  he  was  a  quadruped,  we  can- 
not, from  fad  or  experience,   determine   with  any  certainty,  as  fo 

few 


Chap.  V.        A  N  T  I  E  N  T   M  E  T  A  P  H  Y  S  I  C  S.  S5 

few  examples  have  been  found  of  men  living  in  that  ftate.  But  I  think 
■we  may  guefs  v/hat  his  chara<fter  was,  from  what  we  know  of  him  af- 
ter he  was  ereded,  but  without  the  ufe  of  fpeech  ;  and  alfo  from  what 
we  know  of  him  in  the  firft  ages  of  civility,  after  he  had  learned  to 
fpeak.  And  firft,  there  is  the  Orang  Outang,  who  has  not  the  ufe  of 
fpeech,  but  is  of  a  charader  mild  and  gentle,  afFedionate  too,  and 
capable  of  friendfhip  and  attachment  to  particular  perfons,  with  the 
fenfe  alfo  of  what  is  decent  and  becoming,  tie  is  fecial  too,  and 
lives  in  herds  ;  fo  that  with  regard  ro  hu^  charader,  he  is  undoubt- 
edly a  man,  and  a  much  better  man  than  many  that  are  to  be  found 
in  civilized  countries-  And  as  to  his  capacity  of  intelled  and  fcience, 
he  has  1  think  fhewn,  by  the  arts,  few  as  they  are,  which  he  has  in- 
vented, (fuch  as  that  of  arming  himfelf  with  a  weapon,  and  ereding 
huts -to  proted  him  from  the  weather),  but  wiiich  are  as  many  as 
could  well  be  expeded  that  he  fhould  have  mvented  in  his  ftate  of 
life,  that  he  is  not  defedive  in  the  capacity  of  intelled  and  fcience. 

As  to  nations  in  the  firft  ages  of  civility,  we  muft  make  a  difiinc- 
tion  betwixt  men  living  upon  the  natural  fruits  of  the  earth,  and 
thofe  who  fubfift  by  hunting  and  feed  on  flefh,  which  changes  the 
natural  charader  of  man,  and  makes  him  not  only  more  cruel  and 
ferocious,  but  alfo  more  cunning  and  deceitful  than  he  would  other- 
wife  be;  for  it  is  by  cunning  and  furprife  that  he  feizes  his  prey. 
To  difcover,  therefore,  what  man  by  nature  is  in  the  firft  age  of  ci- 
vility, before  he  becomes  a  hunter,  we  muft  go  to  the  Pelew  Iflands, 
a  difcovery  lately  made,  which  I  think  of  great  value.  There  we 
find  men,  that  are  not  only  kind  and  hofpitable,  but  generous  and 
noble  minded  :  So  that  when  they  go  to  war,  they  fcorn  to  make  it 
by  ftratagem  and  furprife;  but  fairly  tell  their  enemy  when  and 
where  they  are  to  attack  thera. 

There- 


56  ANTIENT   METAPHYSICS.         Book  I. 

There  are  fome,  I  know,  who  think  that  their  hofpitality  and 
kindnefs  to  us,  was  only  a  device  to  lull  us  into  fecurity,  that  rhey 
might  have  an  opportunity  of  murdering  us,  and  feizing  our  iron 
tools,  of  which  they  were  very  fond,  and  the  other  inftruments  of 
art  which  we  ufed.     But,  as  Mr  Pope  fays, 

1  who  think  more  highly  of  our  kind, 


(And  furely  heaven  and  I  are  of  a  mind), 

believe,  that  their  behaviour  to  us  proceeded  from  that  worth  and 
goodnefs  which  is  natural  to  man.  Nor  indeed  can  I  be  perfuaded, 
that  they  would  adt  fo  nobly,  and  with  fuch  heroic  greatnefs  of  mind 
to  their  profeft  enemies,  and  behave  fo  bafely  and  treacheroufly 
to  us,  whom  they  had  received  fo  kindly  and  hofpitably,  and 
ivith  whom  they  were  living  in  the  greateft  friendfhip  and  confi- 
dence *. 

There 


*  There  is  an  account  of  this  people  publiflied  by  Mr  Keate,  which  is  one  of  the 
mod  entertaining  books  I  ever  read.  I  have  done  it  an  honour  which  I  have  done 
very  few  modern  books;  for  I  have  read  it  twice,  and  both  times  with  very  great 
pkafure  and  inftrudlion.  It  prefents  a  moft  agreeable  pidlure  of  human  nature  in 
the  tirft  ages  of  fociety,  uncorrupted  by  the  crimes  and  vices  of  luch  focieties  as 
thole  of  Europe  are  at  prefent.  And  it  confirms  me  in  an  opinion  which  I  have  al- 
ways had,  but  which  was  never  before  fo  verified  by  fa£t  and  experience,  that  man  is, 
by  his  nature,  a  generous,  noble  Uiinded  animal,  full  of  benevolence  and  kindnefs  to 
his  fpecies,  and  moft  ready  to  relieve  men  in  diflrefs,  though  not  only  altogether 
Grangers,  but  of  a  race  of  men  entirely  different  from  them,  and  fuch  as  they  had 
never  feen  before.  They  are  brave  and  magnanimous,  ready  to  encounter  danger 
and  deith  upon  all  occafions  for  their  country  and  their  friends,  antl  at  the  fame  time 
living  in  the  greateft  peace  and  good  order  with  one  another,  under  a  government 
which,  as  it  is  moft  natural,  fo  I  think  it  is  the  beft,  by  a  king,  a  council,  and  an  or- 
der of  nobles,  out  of  which  the  council  and  the  great  officers  of  ftate  are  chofen. 

Our 


Chap.  V.        ANTIENT    METAPHYSICS.  $7 

There  is  another  people,  who,  hke  the  Inhabitants  of  the  Pelew 
iUands,  having   no  four  footed  animals  in  their  country,   are  not 

hunters ; 


Our  people  lived  thirteen  weeks  among  them,  and  in  clofe  intercourfe  with  them, 
and  had  an  opportunity,  during  that  time,  to  fee  their  behaviour,  not  only  in  peace, 
but  in  war,  in  which  they  accompanied  them  and  affifted  them ;  and  during  that 
time,  it  does  not  appear  that  they  difcovcred  any  crime,  vice,  or  folly  among  them } 
but  on  the  contrary,  found  them  pofieiTed  of  every  virtue  and  every  amiable  quality, 
with  a  politenefs  and  delicacy  of  fentiment  which  could  not  have  been  believed,  if  it 
were  not  fo  well  attelled.  They  verify  the  truth  of  an  obfervation  made  by  Arifto- 
tle,  "  ihat  the  love  of  knowledge  is  natural  to  man,"  though  it  be  a  paffion  which^. 
according  to  my  obfervation,  is  one  of  the  weakeft  among  us:  For  thev  fliewed  a 
love  of  knowledge,  and  a  deGre  to  be  inftrufted  in  all  our  arts,  which  was  really 
furprifing,  and  was  moft  eminent  (among  other  eminent  qualities),  in  that  young  man 
the  king's  fon,  whom  they  carried  with  them,  and  who,  if  he  had  lived,  would, 
I  am  perfuaded,  have  done  the  greateft  honour  to  his  nation,  and  to  human  kind. 
They  live  in  the  moft  natural  way,  in  fo  far  that  they  wear  no  clothes,  eat  very  little 
flefh,  ufe  no  ftrong  liquors  at  all,  but  live  almoft  altogether  upon  the  fruits  of 
the  earth,  fuch  as  yams  and  cocoa  nuts.  At  the  fame  time  they  bathe,  and  anoint 
with  oil }  both  which  are  pradlifcd  by  fo  many  different  nations,  both  favage  and  ci» 
vilized,  that  I  believe  they  are  arts  for  preferving  heahh,  which  inftintTt  dircfts  men 
to  praftice.  But  as  they  depart  fo  far  from  nature,  as  to  hve  in  houfes  and  to  ufe 
fire,  they  are  liable  to  fome  difeafes,  particularly  thofe  of  the  fcrophulous  kind. 

As  to  the  ftile  of  this  work,  I  fhould  like  it  much  better  if  it  were  more  fimple, 
and  with  lefs  afFeiflation  of  ornament.  But  I  obferve,  that  what  Mr  Keate  has  put 
into  the  mouth  of  the  king  of  Pelew,  or  of  his  officers,  is  excellent,  not  only  for 
the  matter,  but  for  the  ftyle,  which  is  perfeftly  plain  and  natural;  fuch  as  what  he 
makes  the  king  fay  upon  occafion  of  the  fufpicions  of  him  which  the  Englifli  micht 
entertain,  (p.  249.  of  the  third  edition),  and  what  his  general  fays  in  defence  of  the 
Englifli,  (p.  221.).  And  indeed  it  would  have  been  moft  abfurd,  to  have  made  men, 
doing  every  thing  in  fo  natural  a  v/ay,  fpeak  in  the  florid  ftyle  of  Mr  Gibbons.  I 
can,  however,  pardon  him  for  the  ufe  of  that  ftyle,  in  his  declamations  upon  the- 
philanthropy  of  the  Pelew  men,  which  was  really  wonderful.  But  the  fpeeches  I  have 
mentioned,  I  am  perfuaded,  he  does  not  write  in  his  own  ftile,  but  ^ves  them,  both; 
matter  and  ftile,  as  Captain  Wilfon  had  them  from  the.  interpreter., 

li 

Vol.  IV,  Hi 


5«  ANTIENT    METAPHYSICS.         Book  I. 

hunters  ;  I  mean  the  New  Zealanders.  They  fliew  a  fpirit  as  noble 
and  generous  as  the  men  of  the  Pelew  Iflands*  I  was  afTured,  by  a 
man  who  accompanied  Captain  Cook  in  that  expedition,  and  who  is 
now  our  conful  at  Morrocco,  Mr  Mattra,  that,  while  we  were  at 
war  with  them,  they  fcorned  to  attack  any  fmall  party  of  our  men 
with  any  great  number  of  their  own :  And  Dr  Solander,  now  dead, 
who  attended  Captain  Cook  in  that  expedition,  told  me  a  ftoiy  of 
thtm,  of  which  Sir  Jofeph  Banks  is  ftill  a  living  witnefs.  He  faid, 
while  they  were  yet  in  terms  of  hoftility  with  the  New  Zealanders, 
Sir  Jofeph  and  he  went  to  a  little  ifland  off  the  coaft  of  New  Zea- 
land to  botanize,  which  the  New  Zealanders  obferving,  fet  off  in 
their  canoe,  in  order  to  intercept  them  ;  to  prevent  which,  our  people 
fet  out  with  their  long  boat.  But  the  canoe  got  to  the  ifland  before 
the  boat,  and  laid  hold  of  Sir  Jofeph  and  Dr  Solander,  who  gave 
themfelves  up  for  loft  :  And  Sir  Jofeph,  he  told  me,  had  his  hand  at 
his  piftol,  refolved  to  fell  his  life  as  dear  as  he  could.  But  thofe  fa- 
vages,  as  we  call  them,  were  fo  generous  and  noble  minded,  that 
they  did  not  offer  the  lead  violence  to  them,  but  waiting  till  their 
countrymen  came  up  to  them,  put  them  into  their  hands,  and  then 
bid  them  defend  themfelves,  as  the  Otaheite  man,  who  was  with 
them,  interpreted  their  words.  Upon  this  they  made  a  very  fierce 
attack  upon  our  people,  who  were  obliged  to  kill  fome  of  them  be- 
fore they  could  beat  them  off. 

Many  other  examples  might  be  given  of  the  good  difpofitions  of 

men 


I  win  coin.lude  this  long  note  with  obferving,  that  it  is  not  much  to  be  wondered, 
that  our  people,  confidering  the  fituation  they  were  in,  (hould  be  very  fufpicious  of 
treachery  on  the  Pelew  men.  It  was  very  natural  for  them  to  judge  of  the  charac- 
ter of  thefe  people,  by  that  of  the  men  among  whom  they  had  lived  ;  and  it  was  a 
very  high  compliment  they  paid  to  the  Pelew  men,  to  believe  their  generofity  and 
noble  behaviour  incredible,  v/hen  they  had  fuch  temptation  to  aft  a  contrary  part. 


Chap.  V.        ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  59 

men  in  the  firft  ages  of  civil  life.  The  people  of  Hifpaniola,  when 
the  Spaniards  firft  came  among  them,  were,  as  we  are  informed  by 
Charlevoix,  a  humane,  kind,  and  hofpitable  people  j  and  without 
citing  more  examples,  I  believe  it  to  be  true  what  Captain  Cook 
faid  to  the  late  Sir  John  Pringle,  *  That  all  thofe  we  call  favages,  a- 

*  mong  whom  he  was,  were  kind  and  hofpitable,  (unlefs  where  they 

*  were  provoked,  by  ill  treatment,  to  be  otherwife),  with  the  highefl 

*  fenfe  of  what  is  honourable  and  praife- worthy.' 


H  2  CHAP. 


6o  ANTIENT    METAPHYSICS.        BookL 


C    HAP.        VI. 

Of  the  progrefs  of  man  from  a  natural  fate  y  to  a  fate  of  civility  and 
arts. — Such  a  progrefs  ahfolutely  neceffary. — The  frfl  Jlep  of  this 
progrefs  ivas  living  in  herds. — Of  the  tnotives  "which  induced  men 
to  live  in  that  ivay. — Animals  divided,  by  Arifotle,  into  gregarious 
and  not  gregarious ; — and  into  political  and  not  political. — Man  of 
the  mixed  kind — both  gregarious  and  folitary ;  political  and  not  po- 
litical.— Man  not  induced  to  ajfociate  by  injlin6ly  or  any  particular 
attachment  to  his  fpecies — proved  that  he  has  no  fuch  attachment. 
—  It   ivas  therefore  neceffity  or  convenience  that  made  him  ajfociate, 

■ — This  the  cafe  of  the  Ourang  Outang Men  in  that  fate  lived 

like  brutes,  though  they  ivere  both  gregarious  and  political, — j&x- 
amples  of  other  animals  living  in  that  ivay. — That  ivay  of  living 
far  removed  from  a  fate  of  civility  and  arts. — Language  abfolutely 
necejfary  to  form  fuch  a  fate.— Man  nmf  have  formed  ideas  before 
he  can  have  the  ufe  of  fpeech. — Language  a  ivonderful  art,  but  the 
formation  of  ideas  more  ivonderful. — The  formation  of  ideas  our 
frfl  fep  from  the  mere  animal  life. — This  is  a  mofl  difficult  fep^ 
being  from  nature,  ivh^re  all  things  are  tnixed  ivith  all. — The  pro- 
grefs of  ideas,  from  the  loivef  fpecies  to  the  highef  genus, — We 
difcover  differer.cci  of  things,  and  divide  as  ivell  as  unite. — Of  the 
Categories,  by  ivhich  the  iJi>hole  things  in  the  Univerfe  are  reduced 
to  cei'tain  claffcs.  —  This  the  greatefl  difcovery  of  philofophy  that 
ever  ivas  made. — But  the  human  mind  goes  beyo7id  the  Categories, 
and  dif  overs  ivhat  coutaiiis  the  Categories,  and  every  thing  in  the 
Univerfe. — This  progrefs  mofl  ivonderful,  from  ivhat  is  loivef  in 
mature  to  ix;hat  is  hi'^hefl.  —  Language  neceffary  for  that  progrefs. 
— Therefore  it  is  the  parent  art  of  all  aits  and  Jcicnces. 

HAV- 


Chap.  VI.       ANTIENT   METAPHYSICS.  6i 

HAVING  faid  fo  much  of  man  in  his  natural  ftate,  I  proceed  to 
confider  him  in  a  ftate  of  civility  and  arts,  beginning  with 
his  progrefs  from  the  natural  to  that  ftate  ;  for  that  there  muft  have 
been  a  progrefs,  and  that  he  did  not  become  at  once  an  animal  of 
civility  and  arts,  is  what  no  perfon  can  doubt,  vpho  knows  any  thing 
of  the  hiftory  or  philofophy  of  man  ;  or  if  he  be  fo  ignorant  of  that 
hiftory  and  philofophy,  as  to  have  any  doubt  in  the  matter,  I  think 
-what  I  have  faid  in  the  firft  volume  of  the  origin  of  language  may 
fatisfy  him. 

The  firft  ftep  in  this  progrefs  muft  have  been  ajfociating^  or  living 
together  in  herds,  as  the  Ourang  Outangs  do  at  prefent,  and  as  many 
people  of  the  antient  world  did  *  ;  and  the  firft  thing  to  be  conft- 
dered  is,  What  prompted  man  to  live  in  that  way  ?  Was  it  inftind, 
foch  as  prompts  cattle  and  ftieep  to  herd  together  ;  or  was  it  fome 
motive  of  neceflity  or  convenience  ? 

Ariftotle  has  divided  animals,  very  properly,  into  gregarious  and 
folitary,  and  fome  that  partake  of  both  kinds  ;  and  the  gregarious 
he  has  fubdivided  into  political  and  not  political.  The  political  he 
defines  to  be  thofe  who  carry  on  fome  common  work,  that  is,  a 
■work  for  behoof  of  the  whole  herd  ;  whereas  thofe,  who  are  not 
political,  carry  on  no  common  work,  and  therefore  have  no 
bond  of  union,  though  they  herd  and  live  together  f .  Man,  he 
fays,  is  that  kind  of  animal,  which  is  neither  altogether  gregarious 
nor  altogether  folitary,  but  participates  of  both.  So  that  here  we 
may  oblerve  another  variety  in  our  fpecics,  not  hitherto  mentioned, 

by 

*  Origin  of  Language,  vol.  I.  book  2.  chap.  3,  4,  5,  6,  &  7. 

I  This  divifion  of  animals  I  have  explained  in  the  fecond  chapter  of  the  feco'nd 
book  of  the  firft  volume  of  the  Origin  of  Language,  where  I  have  alfo  corrected  the 
text  of  Ariftotle. 


62  ANTIENT    METAPHYSICS.        Book  f, 

by  which  he  is  both  fecial  and  not  fecial  :  So  that  man  appears  to 
be  made  up  of  contradidlions;  for  he  has  intelle£t,  and  he  has  not 
intellect ;  he  is  a  biped,  and  he  is  not  a  biped  ;  he  is  a  land  animal, 
and  he  is  not  a  land  animal ;  he  is  a  water  animal,  and  not  a  water 
animal ;  and,  arnong  other  varieties,  he  is,  according  to  Ariftotle,. 
gregarious,  and  not  gregarious  ;  to  which  may  be  added,  political,, 
and  not  political.  He  is  therefore  as  much  mixed  in  mind,  as  L 
have  fhewn  that  he  is  in  body  ;  fo  that  he  can  hardly  be  faid  to  bej 
one  fpecies  of  animals,  but  a  compound  of  all  fpeciefes. 

That  man  can  live  in  the  folitary  ftate,  is  proved  by  many  exam" 
pies  of  folitary  favages  that  have  been  found  :  And  that  in  fuch  a 
ftate  he  has  no  inftindt  or  inclination  which  prompts  him  to  affociate- 
with  his  fellow  creatures,  is  evident  from  this,  that  thefe  folitary  fa- 
vages, when  they  arc  firft  difcovered,  run  away  from  men,  which 
was  the  cafe  particularly  of  the  favages  that  were  difcovered  in 
the  Pyrenean  mountains  * ;  For  that  by  nature  and  inftindl  we  have: 
not  that  attachment  to  our  fpecies,  which  other  animals  have 
is  evident,  from  a  peculiarity  of  man  that  I  have  not  yet  men- 
tioned, namely,  that  he  is  the  only  land  animal  that  feeds  upon  his 
own  fpecies,  and  prefers  that  food  to  any  other.  This  I  have  elfe- 
where  very  clearly  proved  f.  It  was  therefore  fome  reafon  of  con- 
venience- 

•  Vol.  in.  of  this  work,  p.  46.  and  47. 

f  Origin  and  Progrefs  of  Language,  vol.  i.  p.  227,  228,  and  229,  in  the  note. 
Nor  does  this  contradidt  what  I  have  faid  of  the  worth  and  goodnefs  of  the  people 
of  the  Pelew  Iflands ;  for  the  New  Zealanders  are  as  generous  and  noble  minded  a 
people  as  thofe  of  Pelew,  yet  they  cat  their  enemies.  And  the  faft  is,  that  when 
men  have  once  got  a  tafte  of  animal  food,  they  become  very  fond  of  it,  as  we  fee 
men  among  us  are  very  fond  of  many  things  ftill  more  unnatural  than  the  flefli 
diet,  fuch  as  tobacco  and  fpirits.    But  men,  farther  advanced  in  civility  and  arts  than 

the 


Chap.  Vr.       ANTIENT   METAPHYSICS.  63 

venience  or  neceflity  that  firft  made  men  herd  together.  The  Ou- 
rang  Outangs  affociate  for  the  fame  reafc-n  that  they  are  armed  with 
a  ftick  ;  that  is,  to  defend  themfelves  agalnfl  the  elephants,  and  to 
drive  them  out  of  their  pafture  ;  alfo  to  fight  with  the  blacks,  and 
with  one  another,  when  they  quarrel.  And  as  they  build  huts, 
they,  no  doubt,  join  in  companies  for  that  purpofe.  He  is  there- 
fore a  political  animal  for  the  fame  reafon  that  he  is  gregarious,  that 
Is,  for  the  fake  of  neceffity  and  convenience. 

That  men,  when  they  were  no  farther  advanced  in  the  focial  and 
political  life,  lived  together  in  the  brutifh  way,  copulating  promif- 
cuoufly,  without  diftindlion  of  families  or  races,  is  evident  from  an- 
tient  hiftory  *.  And  indeed  men  could  not  be  faid  to  be  removed 
from  the  brutes,  when  they  only  herded  together,  and  carried  on 
fome  work  jointly  for  the  behoof  of  the  whole  herd ;  for  there  are 
fundry  fpeciefes  of  brutes  that  herd  together  for  that  purpofe,  parti- 
cularly the  beaver,  an  animal  which  refembles  man  in  this  parti- 
cular, that  he  can  live  either  by  himfelf  or  in  fociety  ;  and  is  not, 
by  the  neceffity  of  his  nature,  Tocial  and  political,  like  the  bee  or 
ant  t« 

Thus 


tlie  New  Zealanders,  will  abominate  the  ufe  of  their  own  fpecies  for  food,  though 
there  are  fundry  examples  of  their  being  driven  by  neceflity  to  take  to  it ;  and  the 
men,  fo  neceflitated,  have  all  agreed  with  the  North  Americans,  mentioned  in  the 
pafTage  quoted  in  the  beginning  of  this  note,  that  it  is  the  moft  delicious  of  all  flefh. 
And  it  is  faid,  that  a  lion,  that  has  once  tafted  human  flefh,  prefers  it  to  all  other : 
So  that  here  we  may  fee  another  excellency  of  our  fpecies,  that  our  flefli  is  a  more 
deli.ioas  food  than  that  of  any  other  animal. 

*  Origin  of  Language,  vol.  I.  book  2d.  chap.  3d. 

t  Ibid.  p.  417.  and  following,  where  there  are  examples  given  of  other  animals 
living  in  the  fame  way. 


64  ANTIENTMETAPHYSICS.        Book  h 

Thus  far,  therefore,   man  is  advanced   from   the  folitary  favage^ 
fo  as  not  only  to  be  gregarious,  but  even  political,  in  Ariftotle's  fenfe 
of  the  word.     But  he  is  ftill  far  removed  from  that  ftate  of  civility, 
which    is    abfolutely    neceffary   for   the    invention   and   cultivation 
of  arts  and  fciences,   by  which   only  he   can   make  any  progrefs  in 
this  life,  towards  regaining  the   ftate  from  which   he   has   fallen. 
For  thai  purpofe,  a   regular  polity  muft  be  formed,  and  properly 
carried    on.      Now,    this    cannot    be    done    without    language, 
which,  I   think,    I   have   fhewn    clearly,   is    not   from  nature,  but 
more  a  thing  of  art,  than   any  other  thing   among   men.     Lan- 
guage, therefore,  may  be  faid  to  be  the  foundation  of  all  arts  and 
fciences :    For   it   is    only  by  that    communication    among    men, 
which  language  beftows  upon  them,  that  any  art   worth   mention- 
ing,  or  fcience,  can  be  invented   or  cultivated  ;    for  though  men. 
may  herd  together,  and  carry  on   fome  joint  work,  by  inarticulate 
cries,  or  by  figns  and  geftures,  as  the  beavers  do  *,  it  is  impoflible  that 
without  language  they  can  have  any  thing  that  can   be  called  go- 
vernment, or  become  an  animal  of  inielle£t,  not  in  capacity  merely, 
but  in  energy  and  adluality.     But  men,  before  they  could  have  the 
ufe  of  language,  muft  have  formed  ideas  to  be  exprefled  by  words ;. 
for  a  language,  having  only  names  for  individual   objects  perceived' 
by  the  fenfes,  would  not  deferve  the  name,  nor  afford  the  ufe  of  a. 
language. 

That  language  is  a  wonderful  invention,  every  fcholar,  and  indeed 
every  man  of  fenfe  and  obfervation,  muft  know.  This  even  a  fa- 
vage  of  North  America  knew,  who,  in  converfation  with  a  miflio- 
nary,  acknowledged  that  the  Europeans  had  much  more  wit  than 
they  J  '  But,'  fays  he,  '  has  any  of  you  invented  a  language  f?'     But 

that 

•  Origin  and  Progrefs  of  Language,  yo\,  I.  p.  4)7^ 
f  Ibid.  p.  566. 


Cliap.  VI.       A  N  T  I  E  N  T    M  E  T  A  P  H  Y  S  I  C  S.  oj 

that  operation  of  our  minds,  by  which  we  form  idean,  is  flill  more 
wonderful.  As  this  is  a  view  in  which  ideas  have  never  been  con- 
fidered,  I  will  enlarge  a  little  upon  ic. 

To  be  convinced  of  this,  let  us  confider  that  our  firft  ftep,  from 
the  mere  animal  to  the  intelledlual  creature,  is  the  forming  of  ideas ; 
for  it  is  that  which  gives  us  intellect  in  actuality^  which,  in  our  na- 
tural ftate,  we  had  only  in  capacity.  Now  the  beginning  of  all 
things  is  the  moft  difficult;  and  it  is  particularly  {o  in  this  cafe,  if 
we  confider,  that  all  our  ideas  are  formed  from  Nature.  Now,  what 
does  Nature  prefent  to  us  ?  It  is  what  may  be  called  a  Chaos, 
where  every  thing  is  mixed  with  every  thing,  animals,  vegetables, 
and  minerals,  the  elements  of  earth,  water,  air,  and  nre  j  the  hea- 
vens above,  and  the  earth  below.  Thefe  are  all  perceived  by 
our  fenfes,  which  are  our  only  inlets  to  knowledge  in  this  ftate 
of  our  exiftence.  But  the  fenfes  perceive  them  altogether  in 
the  lump,  and  as  they  exift  in  nature  ;  but  in  order  to  form  ideas 
of  them,  we  muft  arrange  them,  and  perceive  their  feveral  relations 
and  connexions.  This  is  done,  as  I  have  flaewn*,  by  the  two  great 
faculties  of  the  human  intelleQ,  abftradion  and  generalization ; 
that  is,  by  dividing  and  uniting.  As  the  face  of  Nature  prefents  to 
us  all  things,  as  I  have  faid,  mixed  with  all,  in  v.'hich  way  they  are 
perceived  by  our  fenfes,  it  is  of  abfolute  necefTity  that  they  (houlJ 
be -divided  and  confulered  feparately,  otherwife  it  is  impofTible  we 
can  form  that  diftindl  notion  of  them,  which  we  call  an  idea.  And 
particularly  it  is  neceflary,  that  in  forming  the  idea  of  any  material 
fubftance,  v-re  fiiould  abftract  it  from  the  matter.  And  here  there  is 
another  effentiul  difference  betwixt  the  idea  and  the  perception  of 
fenfe,  which  perceives  nothing  but  what  is  material   in   the  fubjecfl. 

Vol.  IV.  I  As 

*  P.  17.  of  this  VQlume. 


66  AN  TIE  NT    METAPHYSICS.         Book  I. 

As  to  the  uniting,  we  muft  perceive  what  is  common  to  many  things, 
and  in  that  way  connect  and  join  the  things  together,  which  Is  cal- 
led generalization,  or,  as  it  is  expreffed  by  Plato,  perceiving  the 
one  in  the  many.  By  the  firft  operation  of  divifion,  we  fee  what 
is  principal  in  any  individual  thing,  and  feparate  it  from  the  other 
qualities  of  the  thing  ;  and  thus  confidering  it  by  itfelf,  we  form  the 
particular  idea  of  that  individual  thing.  Then  we  exercife  the 
other  faculty  of  uniting,  by  which  we  difcover,  that  this  parti- 
cular idea  is  common  to  many  other  individuals  ;  And  thus,  by 
feeing  this  one  thing  in  the  many,  we  form  the  general  idea  of  the 
fpecies,  as  of  a  man,  for  example,  or  a  horfe*.  But  not  (topping 
here,  we  go  on,  and  find  that  the  one  thing,  which  is  common  to  the 
man  and  horfe,  is  common  to  other  things  ;  and  thus  we  form  the  idea 
of  the  genus  Animal,  where  we  fee  the  am  in  many  more  things  than 
we  favv  it  before.  From  animal  we  afcend  to  animated  body^  or  the 
ro  ifi4"'X'"'  ^s  the  Greeks  call  it,  comprehending  both  animals  and  ve- 
getables. And  from  thenc^  our  next  ftep  is  to  body,  and  from  body 
to  fubjlance,  which  is  one  of  the  Categories.  And  thus  we  go  oa 
difcovering  the  one  in  the  many,  but  that  many  always  increafing. 
And  while  we  thus  unite  things,  which  feem,  at  firft  fight,  fo  re- 
mote from  one  another,  perceiving  what  they  have  in  common,  we 
perceive  alfo  in  vi^hat  they  differ;  and  this  is  what  is  called  \.h.Q  fpe- 
cific  difference,  by  which  the  feveral  fpeciefes  of  the  fame  genus  are 
dirtinguifhed  from  one  another.  And  while  we  thus  go  on,  invefti- 
gating  the  different  relations  and  connedions  of  things,  we  difcover 
that  fome  things  exift  by  ihemfelves,  while  other  things  have  no 

fuch 


*  See  what  I  have  foid  of  particular  and  general  ideas,  in  vol.  III.  of  this  work,  p. 
341.  and  the  paflages  there  quoted ;  -where  I  have  Ihown  the  abfurdity  of  fuppofing 
that  there  could  he  general  ideas,  if  there  were  not  particular ;  or  that  an  idea  could 
be  abltraiRed  from  any  corporeal  fubflance,  if  it  did  not  exift  in  it :  And  yet  our 
philofophers,  at  prcfeiit,  fpeak  of  general  and  ahjlracied  ideas,  as  if  they  were  the  fame. 


Chap.  VI.       A  NTIENT    METAPHYSICS.  67 

fuch  independent  exiftence,  but  exift  in  other  things,  and  yet  of 
thefe  we  form  feparate  ideas  ;  fo  that,  in  this  formation  of  ideas,  we 
divide  things  that  are  by  nature  indivifible,  fuch  as  fiibftances  and 
their  accidents,  and  which,  by  the  fenfes,  are  always  perceived  toge- 
tlier.  Of  accidents  we  form  ideas,  as  well  as  oi  fiihjlances,  and  by 
the  fame  procefs  of  dividing  and  uniting.  In  this  way  we  form  the 
idea  of  magnitude  or  quantity  continuous,  and  of  number  or  quantity 
difcrete,  and  a  more  general  idea  ftill,  that  of  quantity.  And  in  the 
fame  manner  we  form  ideas  of  the  qualities  of  body,  fuch  as  figure 
and  cohur. 

The  number  of  fpeciefes,  as  well  as  of  individuals,  is  infinite  with 
refpe£t  to  us  and  our  comprehenfion,  but  not  in  the  nature  of 
things:  For  as  the  univerfe  is  a  fyftem,  it  can  admit  of  nothing  in- 
finite, but  every  thing  mufl  have  meafure  and  bounds.  But  though 
the  fpeciefes  be  infinite,  with  refpe£t  to  us,  fcience  has  contrived, 
(and  a  wonderful  work  of  fcience  it  is),  to  reduce  the  genufes  to  cer- 
tain clafles,  and  to  number  thefe  clafles.  This  was  a  difcovery  of  the 
Pythagorean  fchool,  and  the  greateft  difcovery,  in  ray  opinion,  that 
ever  was  made  in  philofophy,  by  which  all  the  things  in  this  univerfe 
are  clafTed  and  numbered.  The  work  is  very  properly  entitled,  by 
Archytas,  the  author  of  it,  n.j.  tou  n*.T.t,  that  is.  Of  the  ivbole  of 
Things ;  but  in  the  Treatife  of  Ariftotle,  that  we  have  on  the  fubje(fl, 
and  which  is  little  more  than  the  work  of  Archytas  tranflated  from 
the  Doric  to  the  Attic,  it  is  entitled,  Of  the  Categories ;  for,  as  he 
makes  it  part  of  his  logic,  he  gives  thofe  higheft  genufes  the  name  of 
the  Praedicates  of  Propofitions  *. 

This  progrefs  of  the  human  mind,  from  objeds  of  fenfe,  with  which 

I  2  all 

*  Who  would  defire  to  know  more  of  the  Unlverfals  of  Archytas,  and  the  Ca- 
tegories  of  Ariftotle,  may  read  the  3d  book  of  vol.  I,  of  this  work,  particularly  the 
firft  three  chapters. 


68  ANTI  EN  T   METAPHYSICS.         Book  L 

all  our  knowledge  in  this  life  muft  begin,  to  the  univerfals  contained  in 
the  Categories,  by  wliich,  as  I  have  faid,  we  make  an  arrangement  and 
diRribution  of  all  the  things  in  the  univerfe,  muft  appear  very  wonderful 
to  the  philolbpher,  who  confidcrs  of  what  infinite  variety  thofe  things 
are,  and  how  mixed  and  feemingly  confufed  they  arc  prefented  to 
the  fenfes.  But  the  human  intelligence  does  not  ftop  even  here  ; 
for  it  goes  beyond  the  Categories,  and  not  only  perceives  an  infinite 
number  of  things  contained  in  them,  but  alfo  that  which  contains  the 
Categories;  fo  that  it  perceives  not  only  the  one  m  many  different 
objeds,  of  number  infinite,  but  it  difcovers  the  one  in  all ;  that  is,  it 
difcovers  God,  who  virtually  contains  in  himfelf  all  things  of  this 
univerfe  :  For,  as  our  facred  books  tell  us,  all  things  are  in  God^  and 
God  in  all  things.  And  thus,  by  a  ladder,  fuch  as  Jacob  faw  in  his 
dream,  reaching  from  heaven  to  earth,  at  the  top  of  which  was  the 
Lord*,  we  afcend,  from  what  is  loweft  in  nature,  that  is,  objedls  of 
fenfe,  to  what  is  higheft.  But  to  explain  this  more  particularly,  be- 
longs to  Theology,  which  is  not  our  fubjed  at  prefent. 

I  will  only  add  farther,  upon  the  fubjedt  of  ideas,  that  every  idea 
Ave  form  is  a  fyftem  j  for  even  the  particular  idea  of  the  individual 
thing  is  a  fyftem,  as  we  perceive  in  it  what  is  principal  and  what 
is  fubotdinate.  The  fpecies  is  a  larger  fyftem,  in  which  we  take  in 
many  things,  and  perceive  what  they  have  in  common,  and  how 
ihey  are  conneded  together.  And  thus  we  proceed,  from  lefTer  to 
greater  fyftems,  till  we  comprehend,  as  far  as  we  are  able,  the  fyf- 
tem which  compreliends  all  other  fyftems,  1  mean  the  fyftem  of  the 
univerfe,  and  its  Great  Author.  Thus  it  appears,  that  a  good  logic, 
which  explains  accurately  the  nature  of  Ideas,  does  lead  us,  by  the 
moft  natural  progrefs,  up  to  Theology,  in  which  all  fcience  ends  : 
So  that  it  is  of  the  utmoft  importance  to  philofophy,  that  we  ftiould 
learn  a  logic  which  teaches  us  to  diHinguiili  betwixt  ideas  and  fenfa- 

tions, 
*  Genefisj  chap,  xxvill.  v.  13. 


Chap.  VI,       A  N  T  1  E  N  T    M  E  T  A  P  H  Y  S  I  C  S  69 

tions,  and  not  to  confound  them,  as  Mr  Locke  has  done.  What  I  liave 
faid  here,  and  clfewhere,  I  hope  will  enable  every  man  of  common 
fenfe  to  make  the  diftindion,  and  to  perceive,  not  only  that  the  ope- 
ration of  the  mind,  by  v*-hich  Vv^e  form  ideas,  is  perfeftly  different 
from  the  perceptions  of  fcafe;  but  that  the  objeds  are  quite  diffe- 
rent ;  for  the  intcllcd,  by  which  we  form  our  ideas,  perceives  no- 
thing but  in  fyflem ;  whereas  the  fenfe  perceives  nothing  in  that 
way,  but  only  corporeal  objeds,  not  analyfed,  as  they  are  by  the  in- 
telled,  but  altogether  in  a  lump  with  their  feveral  qualities*. 

» 
It  may  be  farther  obferved,  that  as  there  can  be  no  fyftem,  but  of 
things  which  have  a  connedion  and  relation  to  one  another,  in 
forming  the  feveral  fyftems  of  our  ideas  \\s  perceive  all  the  con- 
nedions  and  relations  that  can  be  imagined  betwixt  things :  For  we 
perceive  the  genus,  the  fpecics,  the  difference,  what  is  proper  or 
peculiar,  and  what  is  accidental,  in  things  ;  and  thefe  comprehend  all 
the  feveral  relations  of  conformity  or  diverfity,  in  which  the  things 
of  this  univerfe  (land  to  one  another.  Thefe  are  the  /ve  zvordsj 
which  Porphyry,  and  his  commentator  Ammonius  Hermeias, 
have  fo  well  explained.  The  work  is  very  properly  entitled,  by 
Philoponus,  zic-uyt:yii,  or  IntroduSliotiy  and  indeed  it  is  the  beft  intro- 
dudion  to  philofophy  that  ever  v/as  written  \\ 

And  this  fuperior  faculty  of  our  minds,  by  which  we  perceive 
things  in  fyftem,  and  in  fyftem  only,  and  by  which  we  proceed 
from  lefTer  to  greater  fyftems,   fhould  convince  us,  that  we  are  not 

deftined, 

•  See  what  I  have  faid  upon  this  fubje^V,  in  vol.  III.  of  this  work,  p.  342,  anfl 
following,  where  !  have  fhcwn  that  intelleft  is  as  incapable  of  perceiving  the  objefts 
of  fenfe,  as  fenfe  is  of  perceiving  the  objects  of  intellect. 

j  See  what  I  have  farther  faid  of  this  valuable  work,  in  vol,  V,  of  Origin  of 
Language,  p.  413. 


70  ANTIENT    METAPHYSICS.         Book  I. 

deftlned,  by  God  and  nature,  only  to  eat  and  drink  in  this  world, 
and  to  enjoy  other  fenfual  pleafures,  but  for  a  much  more  noble  end  ; 
—  To  contemplate  the  feveral  fyftems  of  which  this  univerfe  is  com- 
pofed,  and  the  univerfe  itfelf  and  its  Great  Author,  the  contempla- 
tion of  which  may  be  called  the  Beatific  Vifton^  being  the  greateft 
happinefs  of  which  our  nature  is  capable. 

This  world  of  ideas,  upon  which  I  have  enlarged  fo  much,  and. 
which  may  be  called  the  intelle^ual  ivorld  of  our  microcq/in,  could 
never  have  been  formed  without  the  ufe  of  language  :  For,  in  the 
firft  place,  we  muft  have  had  certain  figns  or  marks  of  our  ideas, 
which  would  be  abfolutely  necefTary  for  our  own  ufe,  as  without 
them  we  could  not  retain  them  in  our  memories,  or  put  them  toge- 
ther in  propofitions.  And,  Jecondly^  we  could  not  otherwife  have 
communicated  them  to  one  another.  Now  it  is  by  communication,, 
in  the  way  of  difcourfe,  that  all  arts  and  fciences  have  been  invent- 
ed and  cultivated,  and  regular  forms  of  government  framed,  under 
which  men  might  live  in  peace  and  good  order,  and  be  fupplied  with 
all  the  neceflaries  of  life,  fo  that  they  might  have  time  to  apply  to 
arts  and  fciences.  Language,  therefore,  may  be  faid  to  be  the  parent 
of  all  arts  and  fciences,  and  to  be  the  firft  ftep  of  that  ladder,  by 
which  we  are  to  afcend  from  this  earth  to  that  flate  from  which  we 
are  fallen. 


CHAP. 


Ciup.  Vir.     AN  TIE  NT    METAPHYSICS.  71 


C    H    A    P.       vir. 

Of  the  progrefs  of  the  human  mind  from  ideas   to  Science. -^Ideas  the 
materials  only  of  Science. — They  mujl  be  put  together  in  order 
to  make  fcience. — This  done  by  propofitions. — All  Propofttions  confijl 
of  apraedicate  and  a  fuhjeCl- — The  praedicate  the  more  general  idea^ 
containing  the  fubjeit  being  the  lefs  general  idea. — Of  the  7nunncr 
in  -which  one  idea  contains  another ; — and  hoiv  the  more  general 
idea  contains  and  is  contained  in  the  lefs  general. — This  explained 
by  the  diftinclion  betivixt  containing  potentially  and  di^mWy. — This 
difinciion  f^jeivn  to  apply  to  all  propofitions ^  ivhether  praedicating 
the  genus  of  the  fpccics,  or  the  accident  of  the  fubflance. — Propo- 
fitions alone  not  fit  for  fcience. — There  muf   he  that  comparifon  of 
propofitions.,  ivhich  ive  call  Reafoning.  —  Where  the  connexion  bc'^ 
tivixt  the  two  lerms  of  the  propofttion  is  not  evident^  it  muf  he 
made  /o  by  other  propofitions. ^This  cannot  go  on  in  infinitum,  but 
mufl  fop  at  felf  evident  propofitions. — Of  the  procefis  of  reafoning 
from  thefe  propofitions^  and  of  the  coUe6lion  of  propofitions  into  Syl- 
logifm.  —  Of  the  nvonderful  invention  of  the  Syllogifm,  and  of  the 
ivkole  logical  ivorks  of  Arifiotle. — Syllogifm  alone  not  fufficient  for 
Science. — There  mufi  he  alfo  Definition. — Of  the  nature  of  Definition. 
— The  Terms  of  propofitions  may  confifi  of fieveral  ideas,  exprefied  by 
fieveral  -words. — This  illuflrated  by  the  example  of  the  firfi  axiom 
of  Euclid. — Definitions,  therefore,  as  ivell  as  Axioms,  necefary  for 
Science. — Of  the  utility  of  Logic,  and  the  neceffity  that  a  7nan,  ivho 
pretends  to  he  learned  in  any  fcience,  fJjould  knoiv  zi'hat  Science  is. 
— Opinion  amojig  men,  prior  to  fcience  or  demctifiration. — All  men, 
iz'hen  they  firfi  begin  to  think^  form  Opinions, — and  mofi  men  nc%-er 
go  farther. — Polybius's  definition  ofi  Man,  that  he  is  an  opinion- 
forming 


72  A  N  T  I  E  N  T    METAPHYSICS.        Book  I. 

forming  animal. — This  not  fo  good  a  definition  as  Ariflotles. — A- 
rijlotk  gives  us  afyjlem  cf  recfoning  from  Popular  Opinions,  ivhich 
be  calls  DialeSlics  ;  and  ivith  this,  and  his  treatife  De  Sophifticis 
Elenchis,  he  concludes  his  great  luork  of  Logic. — Summary  of  this, 
ivotk. 


BUT  before  I  proceed  to  fpeak  of  the  invention  of  language 
and  other  arts,  I  think  it  is  proper  to  fhew  the  progrefs  of  the 
human  mind  from  ideas  to  fcience.  What  ideas  are,  and  how  they 
are  formed  by  intelledl,  I  hope  I  have  explained,  to  the  fatisfadion 
of  the  reader,  in  the  preceding  chapter.  Cut  ideas  are  only  the  ma- 
terials of  fcience  ;  and  in  order  to  know  what  fcience  is,  we  muft 
know  how  thofe  materials  are  put  together  fo  as  to  produce  fcience. 

The  firft  ftep  from  ideas  towards  fcience,  is  Propofitions,  which 
are  formed,  by  comparing  one  idea  with  another  ;  fo  that,  from  the 
comparative,  or  Logical  faculty,  as  Ariftotle  calls  it,  which  we  have 
in  common  with  the  better  kind  of  brutes,  not  only  our  ideas  pro- 
ceed, but  fcience,  and,  in  general,  all  the  operations  of  the  intellec- 
tual mind  *.  When  we  compare  our  ideas,  we  perceive,  as  Mr 
Locke  tells  us,  their  agreement  or  difagreement  :  But  wherein  this 
agreement  confifts,  he  has  not  told  us ;  nor  can  any  man  tell,  who 
has  not  ftudied  the  antient  philofophy.  But  that  philofophy  teaches 
us,  that  in  every  propofition  there  is  one  idea  more  general  than 
another,  and  that  this  more  general  idea  either  contains  or 
comprehends  the  lefs  general,  or  does  not  :  And  thus  are  formed 
affirmative    and    negative    propofitions.      The    more   general    idea, 

which 


•  See  what  I  have  faid  of  this  logical  or    comparative  faculty  of  the  human  mind, 
In  the  firft  chapter  of  this  volume,  and  in  vol.  L  p.  381. 


Chap.  VII.     A  NTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  73 

which  contains  the  lefs  general,  is  called  the  Predicate  of  the  propo- 
fition  ;  whereas  the  lefs  general  is  called  the  Suhje^.  But  this  dif- 
tindion,  however  obvious,  and  fuch,  as  that,  without  it,  we  cannot 
have  fo  much  as  the  idea  of  a  Propofuion,  Mr  Locke  has  no  where 
made;  fo  totally  ignorant  he  appears  to  have  been  of  logic*. 

But  to  thofe,  who  know  no  more  of  logic  nor  of  anlient  philofo- 
phy  than  Mr  Locke  did,  it  will  be  neceffary  to  explain  in  what  fenfe 
one  idea  can  be  faid  to  contain  another,  or  the  idea  lefs  general  can 
b  faid  to  be  a  part  of  the  more  general.  And,  in  the  firft  place,  it 
is  not  in  the  fenfe  that  one  body  is  faid  to  be  a  part  of  another,  or 
the  greater  body  to  contain  the  lefler ;  nor  is  it  as  one  number  is  faid 
to  contain  another ;  but  it  is  virtually  or  potentially  that  the  more 
general  idea  contains  the  lefs  general.  In  this  way  the  genus  con- 
tains the  fpecies ;  for  the  genus  may  be  predicated  of  every  fpecies 
under  it,  whether  exifting  or  not  exifting  ;  fo  that  virtually  it 
contains  all  the  fpeciefes  under  it,  which  exift  or  may  exift.  And  not 
only  does  the  more  general  contain  the  lefs  general,  but  (what  at 
firft  fight  may  appear  furprifing)  the  lefs  general  contains  the  more 
general,  not  virtually  or  potentially^  but  equally.  Thus  the  genus 
Animal  contains  virtually  Man,  and  every  other  fpecies  of  animal 
either  exifting  or  that  may  exift:  But  the  genus  Animal  is  contained 
in  man,  and  in  other  animals  aflually -,  for  man  cannot  exift  with- 
out being  in  a^uality^  and  not  potentially  only,  an  animal  f. 

There  are  only  two  ways  in  which  the  more  general  idea  of  a  pro- 
Vol.  IV.  K  pofition 

*  See  what  I  have  farther  faid  of  Mr  Locke's  logic,  in  vol.  I.  of  this  work,  p.  382. 
and  following. 

f  See  Book  V.  Chap.  II.  of  vol.  I.  where  this  matter  is  explained  at  great  length, 
and  particularly  p.  479.  where  I  have  acknowledged  that  I  got  the  diftindlion  betwixt 
containing  potentially  and  aftually,  upon  which  I  think,  the  whole  truth  of  the 
Syllogifm  depends,  from  a  Greek  now  living,  iiugeniut  Dtaeonus. 


74 


ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.      Book  I. 


pofition  can  be  predicated  of  the  lefs  general :  One  of  thefe  is,  as  the 
genus  is  predicated  of  the  fpecies,  which  I  have  already  mentioned.  It 
IS  caWed  hy  An{{ot]c  aocd'vTroiiUfAivov*.  The  other  Arlflotle  calls  (v 
*vro}csif^ivu,  when  an  accident  is  predicated  of  a  fubftance,  which  is, 
when  it  is  affirmed  that  the  accident  is  inherent  in  the  fubftance  ;  as 
when  we  predicate  the  colour  ivhite  of  man.  In  this  cafe  likewife  the 
predicate  is  a  more  general  idea  than  the  fubjeit,  containing  not  only 
man  in  the  inftance  given,  but  every  other  fubftance  of  that  colour. 
And  the  fame  diftindion  will  apply  of  containing  virtually  and  ac- 
tually :  For  ivhite  contains  man  only  virtually,  but  is  contained  in 
man  equally ;  fo  that  what  I  have  (aid  of  ideas  containing  and  not 
containing  one  another,  applies  equally  to  all  propofitlons  predicating 
either  the  genus  of  the  fpecies,  or  the  accident  of  the  fubftance  ;  t 
and  this  may  fuffice,  as  to  propofitions  in  general,  for  our  prefent 
purpofe.  Who  would  defire  to  know  more  upon  this  fubjedl,  may 
confult  the  fifth  book  of  the  firft  volume  of  this  work,  where  he 
will  find  the  whole  doQrine  of  propofitions  explained  on  the  prin^ 
ciples  of  Antient  Philofophy. 

But  propofitions  alone  will  not  make  fcience.  For  fuppofe  that 
we  cannot  perceive  the  connexion  betwixt  the  two  ideas,  in  the 
propofition,  nor  difcover  that  the  one  makes  part  of  the  other ; 
what  is  to  be  done  in  that  cafe  ?  This  Ariftotle  tells  us,  and  not  any 
other  philofopher  antient  or  modern,  that  I  know.  We  muft  find 
out,  he  fays,  a  third  idea,  which  we  muft  apply  to  each  of  the  ideas 
in  the  propofition,  and  which,  therefore,  he  very  properly  calls  a 
middle  term  ;  and,  in  this  way,  try  to  difcover  the  connedlon  be- 
twixt the  two  ideas  in  the  propofition.  This  operation  of  the  intel- 
le£t,  by  which  we  apply  the  middle  term  to  the  two  ideas  or  terms 
of  the  propofition,  and  by  which  we  form  other  propofitions,  is  cal- 
led 

*  See  the  beginning  of  the  Book  of  Categories. 

I  See,  with  refpeft  to  thefe  two  kinds  of  Predication,  vol.  I.  p.  383. 


Chap.  VII.    AN  TIE  NT  METAPHYSICS. 


/^ 


led  in  Greek  hiavota,  in  Latin  difcurfus  mentis,  and  in  Engllfh  Rea' 
fonhig ;  or,  as  the  Latin  expreffion  may  not  be  improperly  tranflat- 
ed,  Difcoiirfe  of  Re nf on.  And  the  way,  in  which  the  two  terms  are 
conneded  by  the  middle  term,  is  this.  If  the  predicate,  or  greater 
term  of  the  propofition  to  be  proved,  contain  the  middle  term,  and  if 
the  middle  term  contain  the  fuhjed,  or  leffer  term,  then  the  predicate 
muft  necefTarily  contain  the  fubject;  and  thus  an  affirmative  propor- 
tion is  proved.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  if  the  predicate  do  not  con- 
tain the  middle  term,  but  the  middle  term  contain  the  leffer  term  of 
the  propofition  to  be  proved,  then  it  is  proved  that  the  predicate  does 
not  contain  the  fubjod  ;  and  this  is  the  demonftratioa  of  a  negative 
propofuioB. 

But  fuppole  two  propofitions,  by  which  we  apply  the  middle 
term  firft  to  one  idea  of  the  propofition  to  be  proved  and  then  to 
the  other,  are  not  fufficient  to  difcover  the  connedion  of  the  two 
propofitions;  what  is  then  to  be  done?  And  I  fay,  more  propo- 
fitions muft  be  difcovered,  by  which  the  two  terms  of  the  propo- 
fitions to  be  proved  are  to  be  conneded  together.  But  is  this  to  go 
on  in  infinitum  f  If  this  were  the  cafe,  there  could  be  no  demon- 
ftraiion,  or  fcience  of  any  kind  ;  for,  if  every  thing  was  to  be  prov- 
ed, nothing  could  be  proved.  There  muft,  therefore,  be  fome  pro- 
pofitions, which  require  no  proof :  Thefe  are  called  flA:/o77ZJ  or  felf- 
evident  propofitions ;  in  which,  by  the  fame  faculty  that  enables  us 
to  form  ideasj  I  mean  the  intelled,  we  difcover  the  neceffary  con- 
nedion  betwixt  the  two  terms*. 

.  And  here  it  is  evident,  that  before  we  can  arrive  at  felf-eviJenE 
propofitions,  many  other  propofitions  muft  be  formed,  and  all  thefe 
muft  be  arranged,  and  put  together  in  fuch  an  order  as  to  make  de- 
monftration  or  fcience.  To  know  how  to  do  this  is  itfelf  a  great 
fcience  ;  the  greateft,  I   think,  that  ever  was  difcovered  by  man. 

2K  'it 

*  See,  upon  the  fubject  of  AxiomS;  vol.  I.  p.  383,  and  following. 


76  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.      Book  I. 

It  is  called  Logic  ;  of  which  Ariftotle,  and  he  only,  has  given  us  a 
fyftem;  and  as  all  fcience  muft  begin  with  an  analyfis,  he  has  given  us 
a  moft  wonderful  analyfis  of  the  operations  of  the  human  mind;  be- 
ginning with  fimple  terrns  ;  then  proceeding  to  propofitions  ;  from 
thence  to  the  colledion  of  thefe  propofitions,  which  he  calls  very  pro- 
perly Syllogifm,  and  which  is  the  laft  work  of  demonftration. 

When  we  confider  the  infinite  variety  of  fubjeds,  upon  which 
men  reafon,  how  this  infinity  is  bounded,  and  limits  fet  to  it  by  the 
book  upon  the  Categories,  which  reduce  to  clafles  and  numbers  the 
whole  things  of  this  univerfe,  and  without  which  there  could  have 
been  no  fcience  of  logic,  as  there  can  be  no  fcience  of  infinity;— 
when  we  confider  alfo  the  variety  of  propofitions.  formed  of  the 
ideas  contained  in  the  Categories,  and  the  feveral  fpeclefes  of  them 
produced  by  the  differences  of  the  predicate  and  fubjedt,  the  matter 
and  manner  of  the  propofition,  all  enumerated  by  Ariftotle  and  his 
Commentators  to  the  number  of  3024;  a  number  that  muft  appear 
incredible  to  thofe  who  have  never  thought  upon  the  fubje£t ;— and 
when  we  join  to  all  this,  the  analyfis  of  the  fyllogifms  compofed  of 
thefe  propofitions  into  three  figures  and  14  modes,  we  muft  ac- 
knowledge, that  Ariftotle's  Logic  is  the  moft  wonderful  fyftem  of 
fcience  that  ever  was  invented  ;  fuch  as  could  not  have  been  in- 
vented by  one  man,  even  a  man  of  fuch  a  genius  as  Ariftotle,  but 
muft  have  been  the  invention  of  a  fucceflion  of  men  from  father  to 
fon  for  many  generations,  conftantly  employed  in  the  cultivation  of 
arts  and  fciences.  Such  a  fucceflion  never  was  in  any  other  country 
than  Egypt ;  and  which,  therefore,  I  hold  to  be  the  parent  country 
of  all  arts  and  fciences*. 

But  even  Syllogifm  is  not  fufficient  for  demonftrative  reafoning; 
for  there  muft  be  likewife  Definition^  by  which  we  know  exadly  the 

nature 

•  See  page  54,  and  following  of  the  preface  to  the  III.  vol.  likewife  p,  45.  of  the 
fame  preface,  where  I  have  enlarged  much  upon  the  wonderful  invention  of  logic,  and 
the  utility  of  it. 


Chap.  VII.    ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  77 

nature  of  the  fubjeds  that  we  join  together  in  propofitions  :  For 
unlefs  we  know  with  the  greateft  accuracy  the  meaning  of  the  words 
that  we  employ  to  exprefs  our  ideas,  it  is  impoflible  that  we  can 
demonftrate.  And  here  we  return  again  to  the  doQrine  of  ideas, 
and  the  divifion  of  them  into  genus  and  fpecies,  fubftance  and  ac- 
cident ;  one  of  which  two  divifions  muft  be  expreffed  in  the  defini- 
tion, according  to  the  nature  of  the  fubjed. 

And  here  it  is  to  be  obferved,  that  a  fingle  predicate  or  fubjeft  of  a 
propofition  may  be  expreffed  by  feveral  words.  Of  this  the  firft  Ax- 
iom of  EucHd,  and  which  one  may  think  fhould  be  a  very  fimple 
propofition,  That  things,  ivhich  are  equal  to  the  fame  thing,  are  equal 
to  one  another,  may  furnifh  us  an  example.  For  there  the  equality 
of  things  to  one  another,  is  predicated  of  things  equal  to  the  fame 
thing  :  Where  both  the  predicate  and  the  fubjed  are  ideas  com- 
pounded of  fevera!  ideas,  and  expreffed  by  feveral  words*. 

Thus  it  appears,  that  definitions,  as  well  as  axioms,  are  neceffary 
for  fcience  ;  and,  therefore,  Euclid  has  prefixed  to  his  Syftem  of 
Geometry,  both  definitions  and  axioms. 

And  here  I  would  advife  a  man,  who  defires  to  learn  the  art  of 
reafoning,  to  ftudy  the  Elements  of  Euclid,  before  he  applies  to  the 
Logic  of  Ariftotle  :  For  in  Euclid  he  will  readily  perceive  the  pro^ 
grels  of  the  mind  from  propofitions  felf- evident  to  propofitions 
that  need  to  be  demonftrated  ;  and  this  upon  fubjeds  the  moft  fimr 
pie  of  any  that  are  the  fubjed  of  fcience  and  the  lead  removed 
from  the  perceptions  of  fenfe,  being  lines  and  figures,  which  are  re- 
prefented  to  the  fight,  not  like  other  fubjeds  of  fcience  to  be  com- 
prehended only  by  intelled.  The  method  Euclid  follows  in  his  de- 
monftrations  is  called  the  Synthetic  Method,  by  which  he  proceeds 
from  felf-evident  propofitions,   or  propofitions  before  demonftrated, 

to 

•  Vol.  I.  p.  391.  and  following. 


7?  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.     Book  I. 

to  the  theorem,  or  problem,  which  is  propofed  to  be  demonftrated. 
But  I  would  advife  the  ftudent  of  geometry,  not  only  to  follow  that 
method,  but  to  reverfe  it,  and  pradice  what  is  called  the  analy- 
tic method,  which  begins  where  the  other  method  ends,  that  is 
with  the  propofition  to  be  demonftrated  ;  and  inquires  whether 
that  propofition  be  not  neceflarily  conneded  with  fome  felf- 
evident  propofition,  or  fome  propofition,  one  or  more,  that  had 
been  before  demonftrated  :  So  that,  as  it  begins  where  the  other 
method  ends,  it  ends  where  the  other  method  begins.  And 
I  am  perfuaded,  that,  in  this  analytical  way,  the  truth  of  the 
propofitions,  which  Euclid  has  demonftrated,  was  firft  difcovered  : 
For  analyfis  is  the  beginning  of  all  fcience  :  And  by  going  thus 
forward  and  backward  in  the  demonftration,  the  young  ftudent  more 
perfedly  comprehends  the  truth  of  it. 

It  was  the  application  of  reafonlng  to  fubjeds  fo  fimple  as  to  ht 
prefented  to  the  eyes,  which  I  am  perfuaded  determined  the  Pytha- 
goreans to  make  geometry  the  firft  ftudy  of  their  fcholars  ;  for  they 
thought  it  was  teaching  them  in  the  eafieft  way,  to  know  what  demon- 
ftration was.  And,  further,  they  thought  that  it  was  the  eafieft  and 
moft  natural  way  of  raifing  the  mind  from  objeds  of  fenfe  to  things 
immaterial,  which  have  a  real  and  permanent  exiftence  ;  and,  there- 
fore, were  called  by  thefe  philofophers  the  ra  ovrag  ovto,,  whereas 
things  material,  are  always  changing,  and  in  a  conftant  viciflitude 
of  generation  and  corruption,  fo  that  a  material  thing  was  faid  by 
them  to  be  always  becoming  fomething,  but  never  to  be  aflually 
any  thing  :  By  which  circumlocution  we  only  can  render  in  En- 
ohfli  what  they  exprefted  in  two  words,  'ovx,  la-rt  aXXx  ytyvircci.  It 
was  for  this  reafon  that  geometry,  and  arithmetic  were  called  Ma- 
■6r,'j.a.Tu,,  as  teaching  men  to  reafon,  and  to  raife  their  minds  above 
the  perceptions  of  f:nfe,  which  was  the  chief  objed  of  that  ex- 
alted philofophy.  But  a  man,  in  thofe  days,  would  have  been 
thou'^ht  lidiculou?,  who,  becaufe  he   underft.ood  lines  and  figures, 

thought 


Chap.  VII,     ANTIENT   METAPHYSICS. 


79 


thought  himfelf  a  philofopher,  even  though  he  had  joined  to 
the  knowledge  of  geometry,  the  fcience  of  numbers,  which  was  alfo 
very  carefully  taught  in  the  Pythagorean  fchooL  It  was  only  by 
the  ftudy  of  morals,  natural  philofophy,  metaphyfics,  and  theology, 
that  a  man  in  that  fchool  could  deferve  the  name  of  a  philofopher. 
Thefe  ftudies,  however,  of  geometry  and  arithmetic,  were  held  to 
be  very  proper  preparatives  for  philofophy  ;  and,  I  think  I  may  add, 
for  logic,  though  even  logic  by  thofe  philofophers  was  not  held  to 
be,  properly  fpeaking,  philofophy,  but  only  an  organ  of  philofophy. 

As  to  the  utility  of  logic,  I  need  only  repeat  what  I  have  faid  in 
more  than  one  place  of  this  work.  That  no  man  can  ever  know  what 
fcience  is  without  ftudying  the  logic  of  Ariftotle,  and  muft  reafon  as  a 
child  reafons,  or  as  an  unlearned  man  fpeaks,  without  knowing  the 
principles  of  the  art,  or  being  able  to  tell  why  one  argument  is  con- 
clufive  and  another  not  *.  It  is,  therefore,  furprifing,  that  any  man 
fhould  pretend  to  be  learned  in  any  fcience,  who  does  not  fo  much 
as  know  what  fcience  is. 

But,  in  the  progrefs  from  fenfations  to  fcience,  there  is  a  ftep 
which  is  neceflary,  and  has  been  made  by  all  men  before  they  at- 
tained to  fcience,  and  that  is  opinion^  which  is  not  like  the  conclu- 
fions  of  fcience  neceffarily  true,  but  may  be  either  true  or  falfe,  as 
it  happens.  All  men,  when  they  firft  begin  to  think,  muft  form  o- 
pinions^  particularly  concerning  what  is  good  or  ill  in  human  life. 
And  by  far  the  greater  part  of  mankind,  as  they  never  attain  to 
fcience,  have  only  opinions  by  which  they  are  governed.  And, 
therefore,  when  Polybius  has  faid,  that  man  is  Zuov  ^o^oToinTiKov^ 
that  is  an  opinion-forming  animal,  he  has  given  a  very  good  defini- 
tion 

•  See  the  paflage  above  quoted  from  the  preface  to  third  volume  of  this  work.  See 
alfo  vol.  I.  book  V.  chap.  IV.  where  the  nature  of  the  fjllogifm  and  its  ufefulnefs  are 
explained  at  great  length.  See  alfo  vol.  VI.  of  Origin  of  Language,  p.  47.  and  follow. 
ing. 


^8o  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.     Book  I. 

tion  of  a  great  plurality  of  the  human  fpecies,  but  not  fo  good  a  de- 
finition as  Ariftotle  has  given,  which  takes  in  the  whole  Ipecies,  and 
marks  the  progrefs  of  Man,  from  the  mere  fenfitive  animal  to  the  per- 
fe£tion  of  his  nature  by  intellect  and  fcience,  of  which  progrefs 
Polybius  in  his  definition  has  only  mentioned  one  ftep. 

"But  as  opinions  are  fo  prevalent  among  men,  and  govern  the 
lives  of  fo  great  a  majority  of  them,  it  was  fit  that  Ariftotle  fhould 
teach  us,  in  this  great  logical  work  of  his,  not  only  how  to  argue, 
from  felf- evident  propoficions,  and  fo  demonftrate,  but  alfo  how  to 
aro-ue  from  the  common  opinions  of  men,  and  in  that  way  perfuade 
men,  who  do  not  fo  much  as  know  what  demonftration  is. 

And  here  we  may  admire  the  admirable  order  and  economy  of 
this  great  work.  Fir  ft  he  begins  with  fimple  terms,  arranged 
and  divided  into  ten  clafles  ;  And  this  is  the  fubjed  of  his  firft  book 
upon  logic,  entitled  Categories.  In  the  fecond  book,  entitled  vt^i 
Uof^m'oi'Si  or  Of  Interpretation^  he  proceeds  to  treat  of  propofitions, 
which  he  has  divided  in  the  wonderful  manner  above  mentioned. 
His  third  logical  work  is  entitled  the  Firjl  Analytics^  in  which  he 
treats  of  the  form  of  the  fyllogifm,  and  fhows  us  how  the  propofi- 
tions are  to  be  arranged  and  conneded  together,  fo  that  the  con- 
clufion  muft  neceflarily  follow  from  the  premifles.  But  that  is  not 
demonftration,  becaufe  the  premifles  may  be  falfe;  and  then  the  con- 
clufion  will  be  falfe  alfo.  But,  in  his  Second  Analytics^  he  proceeds 
to  (how,  how  not  only  the  form  of  the  fyllogifm  may  be  regular,  but 
the  conclufion  of  it  made  true  and  certain.  And,  in  this  way,  he  ac- 
compllfties  what  he  profefles  to  be  the  defign  of  the  whole  work*;  name- 
ly to  (how  us  what  fcience  and  demonftration  is.  And  he  concludes 
this  magnum  opia,  the  greateft  work  of  fcience  that  ever  was  execut- 
ed with  the  work  above  mentioned,  upon  Popular  Argumentation,  or 

reafoning 

•  -In  the  bcrginning  of  his  Firft  Analytics. 


Chap^VII.    ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  8i 

reafoning  from  opinions,  which  he  entitles  Dialeflic  *,  to  which 
he  fubjoins  a  treacife,  De  Sopki/licis  Eknchis,  where  he  fliows  how 
the  captious  arguments  of  the  fophifts  of  thofe  times  were  to  be 
refuted. 

And  thus  he  concludes  his  Logical  Work,  confiding  of  fix  trea- 
tifes,  in  which  he  has  fhown  us  not  only  what  Science  is,  but  what 
Art  is  ;  for  nothing  deferves  the  name  of  art,  which  is  not  founded 
upon  principles  of  fcience:  So  that,  in  this  work,  we  have  explained 
to  us  the  principles  of  all  arts  and  fciences. 

And,  now  I  think  I  have  fully  explained  Ariftotle's  definition  of 
Man,  by  (howing  not  only  what  it  is  that  he  makes  the  genus  of 
this  definition,  namely,  a  Logical  Animal^  but  alfo  by  fhowing  the 
progrefs  from  that  logical  or  comparative  faculty,  which  Man  has  in 
common  with  the  better  kind  of  brutes,  to  the  operation  of  intelledl 
in  forming  ideas,  and  then  his  progrefs  from  ideas  to  fcience,  where 
his  progrefs  in  this  life  ends.  If  all  this  can  be  better  done  or  done 
at  all,  upon  other  principles  than  thofe  which  the  antient  philofophy 
furnifhes,  I  (hall  acknowledge  that  Mr  Harris  and  I  have  beftowed 
cur  time  to  very  little  puipofe  upon  the  ftudy  of  that  philofophy. 
But  if,  on  the  other  hand,  that  cannot  be  done,  the  greateft  admirers 
of  the  modern  philofophy  muft  confefs,  that,  without  the  affiftance  of 
the  Ancients,  we  cannot  fo  much  as  tell  what  fort  of  animal  we  our- 
felves  are  :  And  if  we  do  not  know  what  man  is,  it  is  impoflible, 
as  1  have  elfewhere  obferved,  that  we  can  know  any  thing  of  God 
or  fuperior  intelligences  "f. 

Vol.  IV.  L  CHAP. 

*  See  Vol.  VI.  of  the  Origin  of  Language,  Book  I.  Chap.  III.  in  which  I  have 
treated  very  fully  of  the  Diakaic  of  Ariftotle,  and  fhown  that  he  has  the  honour  of 
the  invention  of  that  art. 

■}■  Page  7,  and  8.  of  this  volume. 


82  ANTIENTMETAPHYSICS.    Book  T; 


CHAP.        VIII. 

Of  the  necejfity  of  arts  and  offcitnces  and  a  regular  polity  among  Men, 
— Without  thefe^  men  cannot  be  happy  though  ajfociated;  and  in  cer- 
tain circumjlanccs  may  be  mojl  iniferable,— This  proved  by  the  ex- 
ample of  the  people  of  Paraguay  in  South  America, — Of  the  tivo 
Authors,  Charlevoix  and  Mur atari,  ivhogive  us  the  hijlory  of  this 
people. — The  loft  may  be  thought  the  more  credible  hifiorian  \  but 
Charlevoix  s.  Narrative  vo ell  vouched. — The  country  of  Paraguay 
of  prodigious  extent. — The  inhabitants   of  it  living  under  no  go- 
vernment,   not    even    the  family    government,    except    in    time 
of  ivar ; — the   mojl  favage   and  brutal  people   ive   read    of;  — 
no  faith   or  honefly   among   them,   nor  fenfe    of  the    Pulchrum 
and  Honeftum  ; — addi^ed  to  the  ufe  of  Jlrong  liquors,    ivhich 
made   them  fill  more   barbarous ; — very   dull  and  fupid   ivhen 
the  Jefiiits  came  among  them,    but  capable  of  being  taught ; — itiore 
difeafed  than  any  civ  ilifed  people. — This  accounted  for. — Example  of 
other  men  ivho  have  lived  in  a  brutifJj  manner,  but  not  fo  brutifh 
as  the  Paraguaife  before  they   ivere  civilifed. — Of  the  hardfhips 
and  dangers  the  fefuits  ix^ent  through  in  civilifing  them. — Had  the 
great efl  difficulty  to  get  at  fever al  of  thefe  nations,  through  defartj 
andforefs. — Had  their  languages  to  learn  ; — and  the'w  Sorcerers 
and  Magicians  to  encounter. — Their  greatefi  obflacle  ivas  their  ap- 
prehenfon  of  the  Spaniards  making  Slaves  of  them  vnhen  they  nvere 
Cbnjlians. — Of  the  martyrdom  the  Jefuits  fuffered,   to  the  number 
of  T^o, — Of  the  oppofition  they  met  vuith  from  the  Spanifh  noblemen 
•who  governed  the  coinmanderies. — Notxvithflanding  all  thefe  obfla- 
cles,   the  jefuits  in  the  beginning  of  this  century  had  efablifJoed  30 
Mtffions. — The  greatefi  order  and  good  government  in  all  thofe 
miffions. — The  Jefuits  did  not  chufe  that  the  nwnber  in  any  of  their 

mifjions 


Chap.  VIII.    A  N  T  I  E  N  T   METAPHYSICS.  8^ 

jiiijftons  /honld  exceed  6.000,  as  they  thought  great  numbers  could 
vot  be  ivell governed  ; — ivere  very  attentive  to  the  education  of  the 
youth,  teaching  them  all  the  ufejul  arts  of  life. — Nothing  the  Sa- 
vages learnt  Jo  ivell  as  mufic  ; — learned  the  life  of  arms,  and  per" 
Jormed  great  aclions  both  againjl  the  Indiant  and  Portuguefe  ;^- 

not  dejerted  by  the  J'lfuits   when   in  the  field. Oppofition  ^iven 

to  the  arming  them  ivith  fire  arms, — Of  the  divifton  of  property  a- 
viong   them. — Ao   money  allonved  among  them. — JVere  made  mol 
zealous  Chrifiians. — Became  Apoflles  themflves,   and  fnjered  mar- 
tyrdom.— An  account  of  their  happy  fate,  given  in  a  letter  by  the 
Governor  of  Paraguay  to  the  King. — The  love  they  bore  to  their 
teachers,   and  their  teachers  to  them. — Of  the  methods  by  ivhich 
the  reformation  ivas  brought  about. —  ift,   By  Religion  : — The  In- 
dians tamed  and  civili/ed  by  the  jefuits,  in  the  fime  manner  as  the 
Greeks  voere  by  Orpheus. — 2dly,  By  Muftc,   in  the  ivay  that  Am- 
phion   civil  fed  the  Greeks  : — The  jefuits  may  alfo  be  compared  to 
Prometheus. — 3:10,  By  Government  the  Indians  ivere  civilifed. — 
Without  government    Man   an   imperfed    animal.  —  Obfervations 
2ipon   the   Men   of  Paraguay  in    their   ivild  fiate. — The  flate  of 
civilifation    and   government    abfolutely    neceffary    to    make    men 
live   in   an   orderly    ivay. — The  Paraguaife   iv anting   thefe,   and 
having  the  ufe  of  firong  liquors,   the  ivildefi  people  that  ive  have 
ever  heard  of — No  fenfe  in  them  of  the  Pulchrum  and  Honeftum, 
ivhich  cannot  be^  but  ivhere  there  is  government. — Of  the  difeafes 
to  ivhich  they  are  liable  ;  and  the  reafons  ivhy  they  are  fo  much 
difeafed.     Of  the  difference  betivixt  them  and  the  inhabitants  of  the 
Peleiv-Iflands,  and  the  New  Zealanders. — Of  the  methods  ufed  by 
the  Jefuits  to  civilife  them  ;   and  firfl  Religion. — This  natural  to 
man. — All  men    ivho  have  the  leaf  ufe  of  reafon,  mufl  be  con- 
'vinced  that  beings  fuperior  to  man  exifi  : — Thefe  beings   they  ivill 
obey.— It  ivas  not  by  teaching  only  that  the  Jefuits  made  Chrifiians 
of  the  Indians,  but  by  a  ivorfhip  of  pomp  and  /Jjoiv. — Of  their  pro- 

cefjions  and  triumphal  Arches. — A  particular  defcription  of  them. • 

L  2  Mific, 


84  ANTIENT   METAPHYSICS.     Book  I. 

Mufic^  a  great  part  of  the  Religion,  to  nvhich  the  Indians  'were 
converted.— Of  the  natural  power  of  Mufic  over  man ;  ivithout 
it  the  Savages  of  Paraguay  could  not  have  been  converted. — The 
lafi  method  the  Jefuits  ufed,  -was  the  eflablifhment  of  a  good  Go^ 
vernment  among  them.— This  -was  a  Religious  Government.— The 
hefl  Government  in  Antient  times.,  fuch  as  the  Hetoic  Government 
in  Greece,  was  conneBed  with  Religion.— The  fiory  of  the  civilifa-^ 
tion  of  thefe  Savages,  a  renewal  of  the  Hiflory  of  Jntient  times, 
—To  be  confidercd,  whether  Religion  be  not  as  neceffary  for  con- 
tinning  good  Government  among  men,  as  for  introducing  it.— Of  the 
difperfwn  of  the  Jefuits  ;—a  great  blow  to  learning ;— compared 
to  the  difperfwn  of  the  Pythagorean  Colleges   in   Magna  Graecia, 

Of  the  noviciate  of  15  years,  the  Jefuits  went  through  before 

they  were  admitted  into  the  order  ; — were  not  only  taught  them- 

f elves,   but  teached  others  ; — afier  they  were  admitted,  they  were 

difpofed  of  by  thefuperior  of  the  order  according  to  their  different 

geniufes. — Not  known  what  is  become  of  the  Miffions  in  Paraguay 

after  the  diffolution  of  the  order  of  Jefuits. — Their  parting  with 

their  Difciples  mofl  forroxvful. — If  they  had  not  chofen  to  leave 

them,   the  power  of  Spain   could  not  have  forced  them. — Might 

■  have  eflablifhed  many  more  Mifftons, — and  made  a  new   Empire^ 

and  a  new  World  of  Learning  in  that  Country. 

HAVING  explained  In  the  preceding  chapters  the  operations 
of  the  Human  Intelledl:,  firft  in  forming  ideas,  and  then  of 
thefe  ideas,  arts,  and  faiences,  the  reader  would  naturally  exped  that, 
in  this  Hiftory  of  Man,  I  fhould  proceed  to  fhow  in  what  country 
or  countries  thefe  arts  and  fciences  had  a  beginning,  and  where  firft 
a  regular  polity  was  formed,  without  which  no  progrefs  could  be 
made  in  them.  But,  before  I  proceed  to  this  moft  important  part 
of  the  Hiftory  of  Man,  I  think  it  will  not  be  improper  to  fhow  the 
necefllty  of  thefe  inventions,  and  that  without  them  men,  though 

alTociated, 


Chap.  Vill.    AN  TIENT  METAPHYSICS.  85 

affociated,  cannot  be  happy  in  any  clrcumflances  or  fituation  ;  bur, 
in  certain  circumftances,  may  be  moft  miferable,  and  at  the  fame 
time  the  wildeft  and  moft  lavage  animal  on  this  earth.  This  I  will 
fhow,  by  the  example  of  a  people  in  South  America,  known  by  the 
name  of  Paraguaife  ;  from  whofe  hiftory  we  may  alfo  learn  this  moft 
important  leffon,  how  men  are  to  be  recovered  from  fo  defperate  a.- 
ftate,  and  arts  and  civility  introduced  among  them.  It  is  an  event, 
the  moft  remarkable,  I  think,  in  modern  hiftory  ;  and  we  have  an 
account  of  it  from  two  authors,  firft  Charlevoix  the  Jefuit,  who 
has  given  a  very  full  and  circumftantial  account  of  it  in  three 
quarto  volumes  ;  and  then  Muratori^  who  has  given  us  a  (hort, 
but  very  diftin(£l  account  of  the  civilifing,  or  as  it  may  be  called^ 
the  humanifing  of  thofe  favages.  His  hiftory  I  confider  as  an  ex- 
cellent abridgment  of  Charlevoix,  though  it  was  publiflied  feveral 
years  before  Charlevoix's  work;  and  by  many  he  will  be  thought 
an  author  more  worthy  of  credit,  as  he  was  no  Jefuit,  wheieas 
Charlevoix,  as  I  have  faid,  was  a  Jefuit,  and  on  that  account  may 
be  thought  partial  to  his  brethern  of  that  order,  who  were  the  prin- 
cipal adors  in  this  great  work  of  making  men  and  chriftians  of  the 
moft  favage  people  that  I  believe  ever  exifted.  But,  he  has  fup- 
ported  the  truth  of  his  hiftory  by  co[)ies  of  original  ;vriting3,  which 
he  has  fubjoined  to  his  2d  and  3d  volumes,  under  the  name  of  Fie- 
ces  yujiijicati'ues  ;  nor  do  I  think  that  there  is  any  good  reafon  to 
doubt  of  any  of  the  fads  he  relates,  unlefs,  perhaps,  the  miracles, 
which  he  fays  were  wrought  for  the  converfion  of  the  favages,  and 
which,  whether  true  or  falfe,  it  was  proper  they  ftiould  believe^ 

The  country  of  Paraguay,  as  defcribed  by  Charlevoix,  is  of  prodJf 
gious  extent ;  ftretching  all  the  way  from  the  lake  Xarcies^  where  the 
river  Paraguay  rifes,  (which  gives  its  name  to  the  people),  along  that 
river,  and  as  far  fouth  as  the  Straits  of  Magellan,  and  bop.nded  by 

Brazil 


8.6  A  N  T  I  E  N  T  M  E  T  A  P  H  Y  S  I  G  S.     Book  I. 

Brazil  upon  the  eaft,  and  upon  the  weft  by  Peru  and  Chili  *.     It  is 
inhabited  by  a  great  number  of  fmall  nations :  For,  into  fuch,   men 
at  firft  aflbciated  ;  and  it  was  only  in  procefs  of  time  that  great  na- 
tions were  formed.     All  thefe  nations  were  in  a  ftate  of  the  greatcft 
barbarity   when  the  Jefuits  came  among  them,  excepting  only  the 
Manaficas,  who,  from  the  account  which  Charlevoix  gives  of  themf, 
appear   to  have   had   fome   civility  and    government  among  them  : 
But  all  the  reft  of  them  had  no  kind  of  government  at  all,  not  even 
family  government.     They  lived  in  the  Cyclopian  way,  in  detached 
families,  but  of  which  the  father  had  no  authority  over  his  children, 
who  had  fuch  abhorrence  of  all  conftraint  or  obedience  to  fuperiors, 
that  they  had  no  regard  to  the  commands  of  either  father   or   mo- 
ther.    Thefe  families,   however,   when  they  went  to  war  with  any 
of  their  neighbours,  affociateu  together,  under  a  chief  who  was  cal- 
led a   Cacique,   but  who  had  no  authority  except  while  the  war  laft-" 
ed  %.     None  of  them  pradifed  any  kind  of  agriculture  ;   and  all  of 
them  lived  chiefly  by  hunting  and  the  flefh  diet,  of  which  they  were 
fo  ravenous,  that  they  ate  of  it  as  often  as   they  could   find  it,  as 
tygers  and  lions  do  :     So  that,  as  Muratori  tells  us,   it  was  with  the 
greateft  difficulty,    that  their  inftrudors,    the  Jefuits,   could  perfuade 
them  to  make  regular  meals  fuch  as  Europeans  make.     They  were 
Canibals  too,  and  the  worft  of  that  kind  we  have  ever  heard  of.  The 
New  Zcalanders  eat  only  their  enemies,  as  the  Indians  of  North  A- 
merica  formerly  did,    and  as  fome  of  them,  far  removed  from  any 
commerce  vvith  the  Europeans,  do  at  this  day ;  but  the  Savages  of  Pa- 
raguay ate   their  countrymen  and  friends,  when  they  could  furprifc 
and  catch  them.     In   fhort,   men  were  their  prey  as  much  as  the 
beafts  of  the  field  are  ours  §  ;  and  human  flefti  being,  as  I  have  ob- 

ferved, 

*  Charlevoix's  Hiftory  of  Paraguay,  vol.  I.  p.  7. 

-}■  Ibid.  vol.  II,  p.  274. 

■^  Ibid.  vol.  I  p.  191,  and  192= 

§  Muratori,  p.  26. 


Chap.  VIII.    A  N  T  I  E  N  T  iM  E  T  A  P  H  Y  S  I  C  S.  g; 

ferved*,  very  delicious,  they  appear  to  have  preferred  it  to  all  other  ; 
and  Charlevoix  mentions  a  Cacique  who  made  it  his  ordinary  diet  1". 
And  not  only  did  they  eat  men  when  they  could  get  them,  but  they 
ate  other  animals  of  prey,  fuch  as  tygers  $,  which  no  other  animal 
of  prey  does.  Monkies  too  they  ate;  and  fuch  was  their  paflion  for 
animal  food,  that  they  ate  worms,  moles,  vipers,  and  reptiles  of  e- 
very  kind  §.  There  was  no  faith  nor  honefty  in  them,  nor  had 
they  any  fenfe  of  the  Pulchrum  and  Honefium  in  actions  or  fenti- 
ments,  which,  as  Polybius  has  very  well  obferved,  only  comes  after 
men  are  civilifed,  and  live  under  a  regular  governmen:. 

Their  barbarous  difpofitions  were  inflamed  and  made  much  more 
brutal  by  the  ufe  of  a  fermented  liquor,  which  they  made  of  rice, 
and  called  chica.  For  they  were  fo  unhappy,  that  though  they  had 
not  learned  the  common  arts  of  life,  they  had  invented,  or  what  I 
rather  believe  to  be  the  truth,  had  learned  from  the  Spaniards  the  art 
of  making  this  intoxicating  liquor  ;  of  which  they  drank  to  fuch  ex- 
cefs,  that,  in  their  drunkennefs,  they  did  things  which  Charlevoix  doe? 
not  chufe  to  mentioa. 

As  to  their  genius  and  natural  parts,  Charlevoix  tell  us,  that  when 

the  Jefuits  came  among  them  they  were  quite  dull,  and   unable  to 

comprehend  any  thing  that  they  could  not  perceive  by  their  fenfes  ;  fo 

that  the   Jefuits  were  in  doubt,   whether  they  ought  to  admit  them 

to  the  participation  of  any  facrament,  except  that  of  baptifm,  and 

confulted  their  fuperiors   the   Bifhops   upon  the  fubject :    But  they 

were  foon  -convinced  that  they  had  the  capacity,   when  properly 

taught,  of  learning  any  thing  \. 

I 
*  Page  62.  of  this  volume, 
"t  Charlevoix,  vol.  I.  p.  365. 
X  Ibid.  p.  387. 
S  Ibid. 
I  Ibid.  p.  240.  and  241. 


88  A  N  T  I  E  N  T  r^I  E  T  A  P  H  Y  S  I  C  S.     Boole  L 

I  will  mention  only  one  thing  more  concerning  thefe  nations  :    It 
is  what  may  appear  very  furprifmg  at  firft  fight  to  thofe  of  my  rea- 
ders wha  have  been  informed,   and  truly  informed,  that  barbarous 
•nations  are  much  more  healthy  than  the  clvillfed,   whereas  the  na- 
tions of  Paraguay  are   more  difeafed   than  any  civHtfed  people  we 
read  of.     For,  according  to  the  account  Charlevoix  gives  of  them, 
they  are  liable  to  more  peftilentlal  and   epidemic  difeafes  than  any 
other  people  upon  the  face  of  the  earth,   and  not  only  grown  peo- 
ple among  them  die  of  thofe  difeafes,  but  there  is  a  great  mortality 
among  their  children  ;  fo  great,  that  their  forcerers  and   magicians 
imputed  it  to  the  baptifm  which   the   Jefuits   adminiftered   to   them. 
But  when  we  confider  what  I  have  faid  of  their  manner  of  living, 
devouring  fo  much  fleih,   and  drinking  fo  much  of  intoxicating  li- 
quor, it  is  rather  furprlfing  that  they  are  not  more  depopulated  or 
altogether  extinguished. 

Upon  the  whole,  though  we  read  of  many  nations,  wlio  In  an- 
tient  times  lived  in  a  brutifla  manner,  copulating  promifcuoufly,  e- 
ven  fuch  nations  as  in  later  times  became  moft  learned  and  polite, 
fuch  as  the  Athenians,  among  whom  Cecrops  firft  inftituted  mar- 
riage, from  whence  he  had  the  name  of  ht(pv>;?,  yet  there  is  no  ex- 
ample in  antieni  or  modern  hiftory  of  men  fo  extremely  barbarous, 
fo  wicked,  and  fo  much  worfe  than  any  brutes,  as  the  inhabitants  of 
Paraguay  were,  before  they  were  tamed  and  humanifed  by  the 
Jefuits. 

Thefe  fathers  began  their  operations  among  them  about  the  be- 
ginning of  laft  century ;  and  fuffered  hardfhips,  and  encountered 
dangers,  in  the  profecutlon  of  their  defign  to  civilife  and  make  chrif- 
tlans  of  them,  fuch  as  could  not  be  credited,  if  they  were  not  very 

well 


Chap.  Vill.    A  N  T  I  E  N  T  M  E  T  A  P  H  Y  S  I  C  S.  S9 

well  attefted.  In  the  firft  place,  they  had  the  greateft  difficulty  to 
get  accefs  to  feme  of  thefe  nations,  which  never  had  been  conquered 
by  the  Spainards,  and  were  hardly  known  to  them.  For  this  pur- 
pofe,  they  were  obliged  to  travel  through  pathlefs  deferts  for  hun- 
dreds of  miles,  and  to  cut  their  way  with  axes  through  forefts  other- 
wife  unpenetrable  even  by  foot  pafTengers.  And,  when  they  came 
among  them,  they  iiad  their  language  to  learn,  which  was  very  dif- 
ferent in  the  different  nations.  Then  they  had  their  Sorcerers  and 
Magicians  to  encounter,  v.  ho  would  very  naturally  oppofe  fuch  an 
innovation  in  the  religion  of  the  country,  as  the  Jefuits  propofed  to 
make.  But  their  greateft  obftacle  of  all  was  the  hatred  of  thofe 
nations  to  the  Spainards,  who  had  made  flaves  of  {q  many  of  them, 
after  converting  them  to  chriftianity,  and  who  they  fuppofed  in- 
tended to  make  flaves  of  them  all  when  they  were  converted.  It  was 
this  chiefly  which  raifed  the  fpirit  of  the  people  againft  them,  who, 
headed  by  their  Caciques,  perfecuted  the  Jefuits  wherever  they  could 
find  them,  and  beftowed  upon  many  of  them,  to  the  number  of  a- 
bove  30,  as  Muratori  fays,  (more  than  a  third  I  believe  of  all  thofe 
who  were  employed  in  thofe  miffionsj,  the  crown  of  martyrdom, 
which  they  appeared  to  defire  rather  than  to  fhun;  and  one  of  them, 
mentioned  by  Charlevoix,  of  the  name  of  Lizardi,  was  in  a  tranfport 
of  joy  upon  the  hopes  he  had  of  ending  his  life  in  that  way,  and 
which  accordingly  happened  *. 

A  greater  obftacle  I  believe  to  the  fuccefs  of  the  Jefuits  than  any 
I  have  mentioned,  was  the  oppofition  of  the  Spanifti  Noblemen, 
who  governed  in  South  America  certain  diftricts  called  Commande- 
ries,  in  which  they  made  thofe  Indians,  converted  to  chriftianity,  ferve 
them  as  flaves  :  Whereas  the  Jefuits  made  all  thofe  of  their  miflions, 
or  Redudions  as  they  called  them,  free  men  as  well  as  chriftlans, 
knowing  fo  much  of  the  difpofition  of  t"he  Indians,  that  if  they  were 
Vol.  IV.  M  to 

•  Charlevoix,  vol.  Ill,  p.  i68. 


90 


ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.    Book  I. 


to  purchafe  chriftianlty  at  the  expence  of  their  liberty,  they  never 
could  make  any  confiderable  number  of  converts.  Thefe  Noble- 
men not  only  made  all  the  intereft  they  could  againft  them  at  the 
Court  of  Madrid,  but  ftirred  up  againft  them  the  Spanifli  Bifhops  in 
South  America;  by  one  of  vphom,  and  the  mob  he  raifed  againft 
them,  they  were  driven  out  of  the  town  of  Afcenfion,  the  capital  of 
Paraguay. 

But  notwithftanding  the  perfecutlons  of  Infidels,  and  the  lofs  there- 
by of  fo  many  of  their  number,  and  notwithftanding  the  oppofi- 
tion  of  avaricious  and  interefted  chriftians,  the  Jefuits  were  fo  fuc- 
cefsful,  that  they  had  eftablifhed  in  Paraguay,  and  the  neighbour- 
ing countries,  in  the  beginning  of  this  century,  30  Reductions,  con- 
taining each  between  4000  and  6000  people.  But  neither  Murato- 
ri,  who  publifhed  his  work  in  1743,  nor  Charlevoix  who  publiftied 
in  1756,  tell  us  how  many  there  were  when  they  wrote.  But 
there  is  one,  Florentine,  a  Capuchine  quoted  by  Muratori*,  who 
fays  that,  in  171 2,  when  he  wrote,  there  were  above  100  towns 
built,  all  Inhabited  by  chriftians ;  by  which  I  do  not  underftand 
that  they  were  all  miffions  of  the  Jefuits,  but  towns  inhabited, 
partly  by  Spainards,  and  partly  by  converted  Indians. 

The  order  and  good  government  eftablifhed  by  the  Jefuits,  in 
thofe  miflions,  was  wonderful  as  it  is  defcrlbed  by  Charlevoix.  The 
fathers  had  the  diredion  and  fuperintendency  of  the  whole  :  But 
they  had  officers  under  them,  who  took  care  that  all  their  orders 
were  pundually  executed  ;  fo  that  I  do  not  believe  there  ever  was  a 
private  family  more  regularly  governed  than  thefe  little  ftates.  For 
they  did  not  chufe  that  their  miffions  fliould  confift  of  great  num- 
bers, or  of  any  number  exceeding  6000  :  And  in  that  they  imitat- 
ed 

•  Page  289. 


Qiap.  VIII.    ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  91 

ed  the  wifdom  of  the  antient  phllofophers,  particularly  Arlftotle, 
who  did  not  think  it  was  pofTible  to  govern  well  any  very  great 
community  ;  and,  therefore,  he  limited  the  number  of  the  citizens 
in  his  commonwealth  to  the  number,  as  I  remember,  of  10,000. 

They  beftowed  the  greateft  pains  on  the  education  of  their  Neo- 
phytes, as  they  called  the  new  converted  chriftians,  inftru£ling  them, 
with  the  greateft  care,  in  all  the  ufeful  arts  of  life  ;  and  particular- 
ly agriculture,  which  they  learned  from  the  Jefuits  themfelves,  who 
taught  them  the  ufe  of  the  plough  and  fpade,  to  fow  and  to  reap, 
working  themfelves  with  them  *.  They  had  {hops  and  work  houfes 
where  they  were  taught  the  mechanic  arts,  fuch  as  the  arts  of  carpen- 
ters, fmiths  and  even  painters,  of  fculptors  and  guilders  and  likewife 
of  clock-makers:  And  the  children  were  applied  to  thofe  different 
trades,  according  as  their  genius  and  inclination  feemed  to  dire<£l:;  for, 
as  Charlevoix  has  obferved,  art  ought  to  be  direded  by  nature  f.  They 
had  fchools  alfo  where  they  were  taught  reading  and  writing,  and 
alfo  arithmetic,  which  went  no  farther  among  them,  while  in  their 
favage  ftate,  than  to  count  as  far  as  tiventy,  the  number  of  their 
fingers  and  toes.  They  taught  them  alfo,  the  art  of  building,  fo 
that  they  not  only  built  churches  for  themfelves,  but  ornamented 
them  in  very  good  tafte  with  paintings  and  engravings  %.  The 
women  alfo  were  taught  all  the  arts  proper  for  their  fex,  fuch  as 
fpinning  and  weaving  §. 

In  all  thefe  arts,  according  to  the  accounts  of  which  Charlevoix 
and  Muratori  have  given  us,  they  made  great  proficiency  ;  but  in 
none,  I  think  fo  much,  as  in  mufic ;  for  which  they  fhowed  fuch 

M  2  a 

*  Charlevoix,  vol.  I.  p.  242. 
t  Ibid. 
X  Ibid. 

$  Ibid.  p.  243. 


92  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.    Book  L 

a  wonderful  genius,  that,  as  Charlevoix  fays,  one  fliould  think,  they 
fung  like  birds^  by  inftin£l*  ;  which  confirms  an  obfervation  I  have 
made  in  more  than  one  place,  that  mufic  is  much  more  natural  to 
man  than  articulation,  which  is  very  difficuk  to  be  learned,  and 
can  hardly  be  learned  at  all,  except  when  we  are  very  young. 

Nor  were  the  fathers  content  to  teach  thofe  Savages  the  arts  of 
civil  life  ;  but  they  made  foldiers  of  them,  and  the  beft  militia  ia 
that  part  of  the  world  :  For  they  were  not  only  a  match  for  the  In- 
dians, and  particularly  a  barbarous  nation  among  them  they  called 
Mamelus,  who  infefted  the  Spanidi  dominions  very  much,  but  evea 
for  the  regular  difciplined  troops  of  the  Portuguefe,  whom  they  de- 
feated more  than  once.  And  when  they  made  prifoners  of  them> 
they  treated  them  with  great  humanity;  particularly  upon  one  oc- 
cafion,  when  the  provifions  failed  them  in  a  long  march,  they  divid- 
ed what  they  had  with  their  Portuguefe  prifoners,  gave  them  mules 
to  carry  them  to  the  neareft  of  their  Reduclions,  and  guides  to  ihow 
them  the  wayf.  The  feveral  Redudlons  furnifhed,  upon  one  oc- 
cafion,  6000  men,  when  the  Spainards  could  only  furnilli  800  J  i 
And,  upon  another  occafion,  4000  of  them,  with  only  300  Spain- 
ards, took  by  affault  a  very  flrong  place  belonging  to  the  Portuguefe, 
and  very  obftinately  defended  by  them^.  And  all  this  fervice  they 
performed  to  the  King  of  Spain,  at  their  own  expence,  receiving 
no  pay,  and  furnifliing  their  own  arms  and  provifions  1|.  And,  up- 
on one  occafion,  they  refufed  the  reward  that  was  offered  them  by 
the  Spanilh  general  for  their  good  fervices  %. 

Nor 
•  Charlevoix,  vol.  I.  p.  257. 

f  vol.  II.  p.  187. 

X  vol.  III.  p.  73. 

§  vol.  II.  p.  194. — 199. 

II  Ibid.  p.  199. 

11  Ibid.  p.  2<5l. 


Chap.  VIII.    ANTIENT   METAPHYSICS.  93 

Nor  did  tlieir  faithful  paflors  defert  them  when  they  took  the  field, 
but  attended  them  even  in  their  battles;  and  when  any  of  them  fell, 
they  went  to  them  expofing  themfelves  to  the  greateft  danger  from 
the  fire  of  the  enemy,  in  order  to  give  them  all  the  comfort  they 
could  while  they  were  dying  *. 

But  even  in  forming  this  militia,  without  which,  I  am  perfuaded, 
the  Spainards  in  that  part  of  the  world  muft  have  been  conquered 
by  the  Portiiguefe  or  Indians,  they  met  with  great  oppofuion  from 
their  enemies  both  in  the  Court  of  Madrid  and  in  India,  and  it  was 
with  great  difficulty  that  they  obtained  the  permiflion  of  giving  the 
ufe  of  fire  arms  to  their  Neophytes,  without  which  they  could  have 
been  of  little  fervice. 

As  to  property  In  their  little  ftate?,  there  was  not  an  entire  com- 
munity of  goods  in  them,  nor  was  it  all  private  property  ;  but 
the  Jefuits  followed  a  middle  way  which  I  think  better  than  ei- 
ther. Every  man  had  a  portion  of  ground  allotted  him,  which  he 
cultivated  for  himfelf:  But  there  was  a  great  track  of  ground  fee 
apart  for  the  public,  which  was  cultivated  by  the  whole  com- 
munity, and  the  fruits  given  to  every  man  who  needed  it ;  fo  that 
they  enjoyed  the  great  bleffing,  that  Agur  prayed  for,  of  neither  po- 
verty nor  riches. 

As  to  riches,  thefe  Jefuit  legiflators  adopted  a  moft  valuable  part 
of  the  policy  of  Lycurgus,  who  forebade  the  ufe  of  money  among 
his  citizens.  Commerce,  therefore,  in  the  miffions,  was  carried  on 
in  the  moft  antient  and  I  believe  bed  way,  by  exchange. 

While  the  Neophytes  were  thus  employed  in  the  arts  both  of  peace 
and  war,  religion  was  not  negledled  among  them  ;  but,  on  the  con- 

tr-ry, 
•  Vol.  II.  p.  286, 


94 


ANTIENT   METAPHYSICS.    Book  I. 


trary,  they  were  mod  afliuLious  and  punctual  in  the  dlfcharge  of  all 
their  duties  as  chriftians  ;  nor  do  I  believe  that  in  the  prefent  age 
there  are  or  have  been,  in  any  country,  more  zealous  and  fervent 
difciples  of  Chrift.  They  became  at  laft  apoftles  themfelves,  and 
laboured  much  in  the  converfion  of  their  barbarous  neighbours;  fome 
of  them,  Charlevoix  tells  us,  in  that  fervice  fuffered  even  martyr- 
dom *. 

In  fhort  the  people,  who  were  colleded  by  the  Jefults  in  thofe 
miflions,  were  entirely  changed,  and,  from  the  wildeft  of  all  barba- 
rians of  whom  we  read,  were  become  tame,  gentle,  orderly  and  re- 
gular in  their  life  and  condudt,  and  pradifing  every  virtue  belong- 
ing to  human  nature.  This  is  attefted  in  a  letter  written  by  the  go- 
vernor of  Paraguay  to  the  King  of  Spain,  of  which  Charlevoix  has 
(riven  us  the  contents  ti  wherein  he  fays,  '  That  he  had  vifited  all  the 

*  redudlions  in  his  province  ;  and  that  he  found  them  all  in  a  ftate, 

*  which  could  not  be  believed  by  any  who  had  not  feen  it   with   his 
'  own  eyes  :    That   nothing  could  be  added  to  the  policy  and  good 

*  order  in  which  they  lived,  to  the  innocence  of  their  manners,  and 
'  the  piety  and  union  among  them  :  That  the  tender  affection  and  re- 
'  fped,  which  they  fliowed  for  their  paftors,  could  not  be  exprefled ; 
'  and  that  every  one  of  them  was  difpofed  to  facrifice  with  pleafure 
'  his  life,  and  all  that  he  pofleffed  in  the  world,  for  the  fervice  of 
*  God  and  his  Majefty'.  To  this  account  of  them  I  will  only  add, 
that  as  the  greateft  pleafure  we  enjoy  in  this  life,  is  to  love  and  to 
be  loved,  the  Indians  of  thofe  miffions  enjoyed  that  pleafure  in  a 
very  high  degree,  loving,  as  they  did,  their  governors,  and  being  fo 
much  beloved  by  them,  a  ching  which  very  rarely  happens.  And 
when  to  that  we  join  their  religion,  the  excellent  government  they 
li-ved  under,  the  vices  of  which  they  were  cured,   particularly  their 

chief 

*  Vol.  II.  p.  264. 
■  Vol.  II,  p.  261, 


Chap.  VIII.    A  N  T  I  E  N  T   M  E  T  A  P  H  y  S  I  C  S.  gs 

chief  vice,  drunkennefs  *,  and  the  arts  of  life  which  they  had  learn- 
ed from  their  governors,  I  think  we  may  pronounce  with  great 
aflurance  that  they  were  as  happy  as  any  people  that  ever  exilled, 
while  they  continued  under  the  government  of  the  Jefuits. 

We  are  now  to  inquire  how  fo  wonderful  a  change  was  wrought 
upon  thofe  barbarians :  And  this  is  an  inquiry  which  belongs,  as 
much  or  more  than  any  other,  to  the  hiftory  of  man  ;  for  it  is  in- 
quiring how  man,  from  a  ftate  more  wild  and  favage  than  that  of  any 
brute,  came  to  be  a  mild  and  gentle  animal,  and  in  a  ftate  which 
fitted  him  for  the  acquifition  of  arts  and  fciences,  by  which  only  our 
nature,  in  this  ftate  of  our  exiftence,  can  be  brought  to  any  degree 
of  perfedion.  And  I  fay  that  it  was  firft  by  religion,  the  great 
tamer  and  civilifer  of  men,  without  which  1  hold  that  no  nation 
ever  was  or  ever  can  be  civilifed.  The  Jefuits  there,  were,  among 
thofe  Indians,  what  Orpheus  was  among  the  Greeks,  of  whon^ 
Horace  fays, 

Sylveftres  homines  facer  Interprefque  Deorutn 
Csedibus  et  vidu  foedo  deterruit  Orpheus  f. 

where  by  the  words  aedlbus  et  viclu  fodoy  it  is  evident  Horace  meant 
that  the  Greeks  then  killed  and  ate  their  fellow  creatures,  as  the  In- 
dians of  South  America  did  before  they  were  tamed  and  humanifed 
by  their  Miflionaries,  and  as  the  Indians  of  North  America,  I  believe, 
at  once  did,  and  fome,  far  to  the  weft  and  beyond  the  Apulachian 
mountains,  do  at  this  daylj;.  And,  2dly,  By  mufic,  for  which  men 
have  a  natural  and  inftindtive  love,  and  organs  which  eafily  adapt 
themfelves  to  the  performance  of  it.     And  particularly  this  was  the 

cafe 
*  Vol.  I.  p.  256. 

\  De  Arte  Poetica,  v.  391. 

:j:  Origin  and  Progrefs  of  Language,  vol.  I.  p.  227.  in  the  note. 


96  A  NTIENT  METAPHYSICS.    Book  I. 

cafe  of  the  Indians  of  the  miffions.  Charlevoix  tells  us,  that  when 
the  Jefuits  were  failing  upon  the  rivers,  and  for  their  own  enter- 
tainment finging  facred  hymns,  numbers  of  Indians  flocked  to  hear 
them  ;  and  the  Jefuits,  by  explaining  to  them  the  fubjedl  of  thofe 
hymns,  made  converts  of  many  of  them  f.  Nor  do  I  believe  that 
any  thing  contributed  more  to  the  advancement  of  religion  in  their 
miflions,  than  the  choirs  which,  Charlevoix  fays,  they  had  in  all 
their  churches  J.  And  here  the  Miflionaries  maybe  faid  to  have 
aded  among  the  Indians  the  part  which  Amphion  aded  among  the 
Greeks,  as  Horace  tells  us, 

Dlftus  et  Amphion,  Thebanas  conditor  arcis, 
Saxa  tnovcre  fono  teftudinis,  et  prece  blanda 
Ducere  quo  velkt 

Vv'here  the  uncivilifed  Greeks,  at  that  time  as  dull  and  ftui)id  as  the 
Jefuits  found  the  Indians  when  they  came  among  them  §,  are  not 
unfitly  imaged  by  Stones.  Thofe  MiflTionaries  may  likewife,  in  the 
allegorical  and  poetical  ftile,  properly  enough  be  faid  to  be  Prorne- 
iheufest  who  made  men ;  for  the  Indians,  before  they  were  civilif- 
ed  by  them,  were  wild  beafts,  and  the  worft  of  wild  beafts,  who  did 
not  defcrve  the  name  of  men. 

The  laft  method,  I  fhall  mention,  ufed  to  tame  thofe  Savages, 
was  to  edablifti  a  polity  and  regular  form  of  government  among 
them.  For,  as  man  is  intended,  by  God  and  nature,  to  live  in 
civil  fociety,  which  cannot  be  without  government,  it  is  evident 
tha^,  if  he  be  not  governed,  he  is  an  imperfed  animal  who  cannot 
anfwer  the  purpofe  for  which  he  is  in  this  world.  The  Indians 
therefore  of  the  miflions  were  formed  into  regular  governments,  had 

property 

\  Vol.  I.  p  241. — 242. 
%  Ibid. 

§  Ibid.  p.  240, 


Chap.  Vlir.    ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS. 


97 


property  afligned  to  them,  without  which  no  ftate  or  community 
can  fubfift,  and  were  taught  arts  by  which  that  property  was  to  be 
made  ufeful. 

From  what  I  have  faid  of  the  Indians  in  their  wild  flate,  and  the 
methods  that  were  ufed  to  civiUfe  them,  the  following  obfervationa 
naturally  arife. 

In  ihefrjl  place,  it  may  be  obferved,  that  though  men  may  be  af^ 
fociated  and  live  together, yet,  if  there  be  not  government  among  them, 
not  even  the  family  government,  fo  that  every  man  does  ivhat  feemeth- 
good  in  his  oivn  ejes,  (the  defcription  which  our  fcripture  gives  us 
of  the  worft  ftate  that  I  think  men  can  be  in),  it  is   impoffible,   by 
the  nature  of  things,   but  that  in   fuch  a  fociety  there  muft  be  the 
greateft  diforder.     And  when  to  that   diforder  is  added  the  intem- 
perate ufe  of  ftrong  liquors,  by  which  the  diforderly  paffions  of  fuch 
men   muft  be  very  much  inflamed  : — And  when  to  all  this  is  added 
the  flefh   diet,   carried  to  fuch  excefs  as  to  make  men  devour  every 
thing  of  the  animal  life  that  comes  within  their  reach,   even  their 
own    fpecies,   the    moft    unnatural    of  all    food,  and    fuch    as   no 
land  animal   except   man   ufes,   the  diforders  in  fuch  a  fociety  muft 
go  to  fuch  an  excefs,  as  to  make  man  a  wild  beaft,   and  vvorfe  than 
any  other  wild   beaft   which   does   not   feed   upon  his  own  fpecies. 
In  fuch  a  fociery  there  can  be  no  fenfe  of  the  Pulchrum  and  Honcf- 
ttini,  which  is  the  foundation  of  all  virtue  among  men,    and  of  eve- 
ry generous  and  noble  fentiment.     Of  this,  it  is  obferved  by  Diodo- 
rus  Siculus  and  other  writers,   that  nations  living  in  the  brutal  ftate, 
though  not  in  a  ftate  fo  brutal  as  that  of  the  wild    Indians,    are   in- 
tirely  void.     And  Polybius  has  very  well  obferved,   tiiat   this   fenfe 
comes  to  men  only  when  government  is  eftablilhed  among  them :  For, 
though  it  be  as  natural  to  man  as  intellect  and  fcience,  yet  he  has,  in 
the  firft  ftages  of  his  progreflion,  only  the  capacity  of  acquiring  it  as 
Vol.  IV.  N  well 


9'3  A  N  T  I  E  N  T  M  E  1^  A  P  H  Y  S  I  C  S.     Book  L 

well  as  liitelled  and  fcience  ;  fo  that,   like  thefe,  it   lyes  latent  in 
him  till  it  be  produced   by   certain  circumftances   and   fituations   of 
life.     It  is  from  their  moft   intemperate  and   unnatural   fle(h  diet, 
without  any  mixture  of  vegetables,   as  we  ufe  It,   and  joined  with 
their   drunkennefs,   that   thefe   barbarous   Indians  are  more  difeafed 
than  any  other  barbarians  we  hear  of:     For  even  the  common  flefh 
eliet,   though  ufed  with  moderation  and  without  flrong   liquors,  not 
being  natural  to  man,  produces  difeafes,  and  fhortens  life,    as  is  evi- 
dent from  the  long  lives  of  the  Antedeluvian  Patriarchs,  who  ate  no 
fleih,  and  1  think  is  evident  from  our  own  experience  of  men,  who, 
having  loft  their  health  by  intemperance,  the   flelh  diet   and  the  ufe 
of  flrong  liquors,  have  recovered  it  by  the  vegetable  diet  and  drink- 
ino-  water.     Now,   what  will  recover  health  when    loft,   will   much 
more  preferve  it  before  it  be  loft.  With  refpedl  to  the  difeafes  of  thefe 
Indians,  I  will  only  further  obferve,  that  nothing  endeared  their  Mif- 
fionaries  more  to  them,  than  their  attendance  upon  them  when  they 
were  dying,  and  their  adminiftering  all  the  rites  of  their  Church  to 
give  them  comfort,  and  eafe  of  mind,  in  their  laft  moments.— And 
thus  1  think  I  have  accounted  for  the  favage  difpofitions  of  the  Indians 
before  they  were  tamed  by^the  Jefuits,  and  for  their  want  of  health. 

What  I  have  faid  here,  of  the  brutality  and  mifery  of  thofe  In- 
dians, may  appear  contradi£tory  to  the  account  I  have  given  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  Pelew  Iflands  and  the  New  Zealanders  *  :  But  it 
fliould  be  confidered,  that  the  men  of  the  Pelew  Iflands  do  not  live 
by  hunting,  as  thofe  Indians  do,  but  upon  the  fruits  of  the  earth, 
and  what  fiHi  they  can  catch,  eating  no  flefh,  except  that  of  fome 
birds  which  they  may  happen  to  kill,  and  having  no  ufe  of  ftrong 
liquors  ;  and  they  have  a  very  regular  and  orderly  government,  as 
I  have  fhown  t*  And,  as  to  the  New  Zealanders,  they  have  no 
four  footed  beafts  in  their  Ifland;  therefore  they  are  not  hunters, 
and  fo  do  not  live  upon  flefh,   but  upon  vegetables,  particularly  the 

roots 
•  Page  $6. 
t  Ibid. 


Chap.  VIII.    A  N  T  I  E  N  T   M  E  T  A  P  H  Y  S  I  C  S.  99 

roots  of  the  fern  and  what  fifh  they  can  catch  ;  and  have  no  ufe 
at  ail  of  ftrong  liquors.  And  it  appears  that  they  have  a  regular 
government,  and  pra£lice  an  art,  of  which  there  could  be  no  ufe 
except  in  a  regular  and  a  free  government,  I  mean  the  Rhetorical 
Art  *.  How  different  the  charader  and  manners  of  thefe  two  na- 
tions muft  be  from  thofe  of  the  wild  Indians,  is  evident  at  firfl 
fight.  And  the  truth  appears  to  be,  that,  as  I  have  elfewhere  ob- 
ferved  f,  man,  while  he  is  yet  a  mere  animal  with  only  the  capacity 
of  being  a  rational  creature,  is  not  a  focial,  and  much  lefs  a  political, 
animal  ;  for,  as  Marcus  Antoninus  has  very  vi'ell  obferved  in  his 
Meditations,  be  is  Political  becaufe  he  is  Rational  J.  We  are  not 
therefore  to  wonder  that  the  Indians  of  Paraguay,  living  without 
arts  or  civility,  and  feeding  only  upon  flefli,  and  even  the  flefh  of 
their  own  fpecies,  and  having  their  paffions  inflamed  by  the  mod 
intemperate  ufe  of  ftrong  liquors,  l"hould  be  fo  favage  and  wild  a 
people  as  they  are  defcribed  by  the  Jefuits. 

I  will  now  proceed  to  make  fomc  refledions  upon  the  methods 
that  were  ufed  to  recover  the  Paraguaife  from  fo  barbarous  a  ftate. 
The  firft  method  1  mentioned  was  Religion,  without  which,  as  I 
have  faid,  no  nation  ever  was  clviliied.  For,  the  belief  of  a  power 
fuperior  to  man,  I  hold  to  be  abfolutely  neccflary,  when  men  have 
come  to  think  at  all,  or  to  have  any  ufe  of  reafon  ;  nor  do  I  be- 
lieve, that  there  either  is  or  ever  was  any  aflemblage  of  men,  deferv- 
ing  the  name  of  a  nation,  that  did  not  believe  that  there  are  pow- 
ers that  govern  in  this  world,  infinitely  fuperior  to  man.  This  no 
man,  who  thinks  and  obferves  what  palTes  around  him,  can  doubt 
of.  Upon  fuch  powers  he  will  fuppofe  that  his  happinefs  or  mife- 
ry  muft  depend  ;  and  he  will  naturally  believe  them  to  be  moved, 
as  he  himfelf  is,  by  fupplications  and  intreaties ;  and  that  they  will 

N  a  favour 

•  Origin  of  Language,  vol.  VI.  p.  4. 

t  Page  62.  of  this  Volume. 

%  E»-Ti  T»  ^«Y(ii«r,   tvlvf  %mi  To^iTtJcsF,     Meditat,  Lib.  tO. 


i-oo  AN  T  TEN  T  METAPHYSICS.      Book  I. 

favour  tliofe  who  apply  to  them  in  that  way,  and  who  do  what  is 
agreeable  to  them,  but  on  the  contrary,  will  puniQi  thofe  who  ne- 
gled  them,  and  acb  contrary  to  their  will.  Whatever,  therefore, 
is  recommended  to  them,  as  the  command  of  thofe  fuperior  powers, 
will  be  readily  obeyed.  And,  thus  it  appears,  that  religion  is  found- 
-ed  in  the  nature  of  man  ;  and  that  it  is  impoflible  to  conceive  any 
number  of  men  colleded  together,  having  the  leaft  ufe  of  reafon, 
though  they  do  not  employ  it  otherwifc  than  in  procuring  the  necef- 
faries  of  life,  without  fuppofing  that  they  have  fome  idea  of  fupe- 
rior powers,  by  whom  they  are  to  be  affifted  or  hindered  in  procur- 
ing thofe  neceffaries  of  life.  And,  accordingly,  in  all  the  barbarous 
nations  of  which  we  have  heard,  there  were  men  who  pretended  to 
■have  a  communication  with  thofe  fuperior  powers,  and  to  predid 
to  their  countrymen  events  which  were  to  happen,  and  upon  which 
their  good  and  ill  fortune  depended.  Such  there  were  even  a- 
mong  thofe  barbarous  Indians,  and  who,  therefore,  were  their  in- 
ftrudors  and  diredors  in  all  their  affairs.  Among  thefe  men  the 
Tefuits  Introduced  Chriftianity.  But  it  was  not  by  teaching  only, 
or  reafoning  with  them,  that  they  made  them  Chriftians.  But  they 
applied  to  their  fenfes,  by  which  Savages  are  much  more  governed 
than  by  reafon  ;  and  captivated  them  by  a  woifhip  of  pomp  and 
Ihbw,  feftivals  and  proceflions  *,  with  many  ceremonies,"  which 
may  appear  to  many  to  be  mere  fuperftition,  but  with  which  the 
(Aitholic  Religion,  as  is  v^ell  known,  abounds. 

One 

*  *  The  procefiion  of  the  Holy  Sacrament  pafTes  under  a  triumphal  arch,  compofed 
f  of  branches  of  trees  adorned  with  flowers,  and  with  birds  of  different  kinds  and  co- 
•  lours  attached  tonhe  branches  by  very  long  firings,  fo  that  they  feem  to  be  altogetlwr 
•■  at  iheir  liberty  ;  and  by  their  notes,  mixed  with  the  mufic  of  the  proceffion,  make  a 
«  moft  agreeable  melody.'  This,  fays  Charlevoix,  (vol.  I.  p.  258.  and  269.)  is  a  beauty  of 
fimple  nature  ;  and,  for  my  part,  the  iiglit  of  fuch  an  arch  fo  adorned,  would  have 
pleal'ed  ms  more  than  any  arch  which  archltetSlure  could  ereiftj  and  the  niufic  of  fuch 
a  proceffion  I  likewife  believe  would  have  pleafed  me  more  than  any  concert  I  ever 
iieard. 


Chap.  VIII.    AN  TIENT   METAPHYSICS.  loi 

One  of  the  greateft  allurements  of  thefe  Savages,  and  which  made 
multitudes  of  them  follow  the  Miflionaries,  was,  as  I  have  obferved, 
mufjc,  and  mufic  fuch  as  the  Church  mufic  among  the  Roman  Ca- 
tholics is,  tending  to  infpire  devout  and  religious  fentiraents.  How 
great  the  power  of  muiic  is,  and  how  congenial  to  the  nature  of 
man,  is  well  known  to  the  philoibpher,  and  indeed  is  a  matter  of 
common  obfervation  and  experience.  By  mufic,  the  manners  may 
be  formed  of  young  men,  even  of  children,  who  are  incapable  of 
being  inftruQed  by  teaching  or  reafoning  ;  and,  accordingly,  it  was 
v^ry  much  employed  by  antient  wifdom  in  the  education  of  youth. 
And  if  it  had  not  been  employed  in  taming  thefe  Savage  Indians, 
and  fubduing  their  violent  paffions,  inflamed,  as  I  have  faid,  by  their 
moft  unnatural  diet  and  manner  of  life,  I  do  not  believe  that  they 
ever  could  have  made  Chriftians  or  even  Men  of  them. 

The  laft  method  ufed  by  the  Miflionaries  for  humanifing  thofe 
brutal  Savages,  was  to  eftabllfh  a  good  government  among  them. 
If  it  had  been  a  popular  government,  it  would  have  done  them  no 
good  ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  would  have  been  produdive  of  much 
diforder.  But  it  was  a  religious  government ;  for  the  Miflionaries 
were  their  governors :  And  it  was  adminiftred  by  officers  of  their  no- 
mination ;  and  it  may  be  obferved,  that  the  firft  governments  in  all 
countries  were  more  or  lefs  conneded  with  the  religion  of  the  coun- 
try. The  government  of  Egypt,  the  moft  antient,  and,  I  think, 
the  beft  government  v/e  read  of,  was  a  government  by  Priefts ; 
and  the  Jewifh  government  was  much  of  the  fame  kind.  The  firft 
government  of  the  Greeks  was  by  their  Heroic  Kings,  that  iSj 
Kings  who  were  fuppofed  to  be  defcended  of  their  Gods. 

And  here  I  conclude  what  I  have  to  fay  of  this  remarkable  event 
in  Paraguay,  which  may  be  faid  to  be  a  renewal  of  antient  limes, 
and  to  have  verified,  by  recent  fads,  the  truth  of  what  we  are  told, 

under 


I02  A  N  T  I  E  N  T  M  E  T  A  P  H  Y  S  I  C  S.      Book  L 

under  the  difgulfe  of  fable,  of  Orpheus  and  Aniphion  having  civi- 
lifed  the  Greeks  by  rehgion  and  mufic ;  but  which,  I  beheve,  to  be 
as  much  a  truth  as  the  Jefuits  having  civilifed,  in  that  way,  the 
people  of  Paraguay  :  And  I  would  have  our  philofophers  confider, 
whether  religion  be  not  as  neceflary  for  continuing  good  government 
among  men,  as  for  introducing  it  at  firft  ;  or,  whether  our  Scotch 
philofopher,  Mr  David  Hume,  be  in  the  right,  who  has  informed 
us,  that  the  lefs  religion  there  is  in  a  nation  fo  much  the  better. 

The  order  of  the  Jefuits,  who  wrought  thofe  wonders  in  Para- 
guay, is  now  no  more.  I  was  in  France  when  the  perfecution  of 
them  began  there  ;  and  I  had  an  opportunity  of  being  pretty  well 
informed  how  it  was  brought  about :  But  to  fpeak  of  this  is  fo- 
reign to  our  prefent  purpofe  :  I  will  only  fay,  what  is  very  well 
known,  and  is  acknowledged  even  by  their  enemies,  that  they  were 
the  mod  learned  body  of  men  in  Europe;  nor  do  I  think,  that 
there  has  been,  at  any  time  in  Europe,  fince  the  Colleges  of  Philo- 
fophers which  were  inftituted  by  Pythagoras  in  Magna  Graecia,  a 
more  (deCt  body  of  men  ;  And  I  hold  the  difperfion  of  the  Jefuits 
to  be  one  of  the  greateft  blows  that  learning  and  philofophy  have 
got,  fince  the  difperfion  of  thofe  Colleges.  The  Jefuits,  before  they 
could  be  admitted  into  the  order,  went  through  a  novitiate  of  no 
lefs  than  fifteen  years,  which  time  they  fpent  not  only  in  ftudying 
moft  diligently  Antient  Learning,  Antient  Philofophy,  and  Chrifti- 
an  Theology,  but  alfo  in  teaching  them  :  For  teaching,  as  well  as 
learning,  was  part  of  their  education  ;  and,  indeed,  there  is  nothing 
that  perfedls  our  knowledge  more,  in  any  thing  we  have  learned,  than 
teaching  it  to  others  ;  and  it  will  even  make  us  learned  in  fome  de- 
gree, when  we  were  ignorant  before,  according  to  the  common  pro- 
verbial faying, 

Qui  docet  indoilos,  licet  indoftiflimus  efTet, 
Jpfe  brevi  reliouis  doftior  elTc  oueat. 

And 


Chap.  V!1I.    A  N  T  I  E  N  T   METAPHYSICS.  loj 

And  after   they  were  admitted  into  the  order,  as  all  men  are  not  hy 
nature  fit  for  all  things,  for, 

Non  omnia  poflumus  omncs, 

the   fuperior   of  the   order  took   care   to   be  well  informed   of  the 
natural   bent   of  the   genius   of  tlTofe    who   entered  into  the  order, 
and    employed    them   according   to   their   different   talents.      Some, 
vvhofe  genius  feemed  to  be  only  for  letters,  v/ere  made  ProfefTors  in 
Univetfities,  and  employed  in  writing  books  of  learning.     Others, 
who  were  of  a  more  adive  fpirit,  and  more  fitted   for  the  bufinefs 
of  life,  were  fent  to   Courts,  and   employed   as   the   Confeffors  of 
Kings  ;  and    very  often  by  their  councils  the  kingdom  was  govern- 
ed :    While  others  of  a  more  daring  fpirit,  and  who  {bowed  an  et: 
thufiaftic  zeal  for  the  propagation    of  the   Gofpel   among   barbarous 
nations,  and  had  fortitude  enough  to  fubmit,  with  refignation,  even 
to  martyrdom  in  that  caufe,  were  fent  to  North  or   South   America, 
to  the  Eaft   Indies,  or   to   China  ;  and,  I   believe,  they  have   done 
and  fuffered  more  for  the  propagation   of  the   Gofpel,  than  all  the 
men  of  modern  times  put  together:    So  that  they  may  fay, 

Quae  regio  in  terris  noftri  non  plena  laboris. 

What  is  become  of  their  MifTions,  fince  they  left  them,  I  am 
very  cuiious  to  know,  but  have  not  been  able  to  learn.  I  have  on- 
ly been  told,  what  I  can  very  well  believe,  that  the  parting  was  moft 
forrowful,  of  them  and  their  dear  Neophytes  ;  and  that  many  tears 
were  fhed  upon  both  fides.  If  they  had  not  chofen  to  leave  them 
I  am  confident  that  the  Spainards  had  no  power  in  South  America 
that  could  have  forced  them  :  And  they  might  have  gone  on  increaf- 
ing  the  number  of  their  little  dates,  and  have  formed  a  confederacy  a- 
mong  them,  not  unworthy  to  be  compared  to  the  Achaean  league  in 
Greece,  which  might  have  been  a  match  for  any  force  that  the 
Spainards  could  have  brought  from  Old  Spain  :  And  I  doubt  not  but 
that,  in  procefs  of  time,  they  might  have  made  Jefuits  of  their  dif- 
ciples  ;  and  fo  eftablifhed  a  new  world  of  learning,  on  the  other  fide 
of  the  Atlantic. 

BOOK 


I  ©4 


ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.     Book  IL 

BOOK         II. 

Of  the  Invention  of  Arts  and  Sciences^ 


CHAP.       I. 


7 he  fubjeSi  of  this  book  is  the  invention  of  Arts  and  Sciences^  begin- 
ning ixjith  the  Art  of  Language.-^ Language  not  natural  to  Man, 
but  an  Jrt.  —  Men  herded,  and  carried  on  fome  com7)ion  bufinefs  be^ 
fore  they  Spoke. — Language  began  "with  animal  cries,  varied  per- 
haps  by  fome  articulation,   in   imitation  of  certain  Birds ; — varied 
alfo  by   Mufical  Tones. — By  fuch  a  Language  no  progrefs  could 
have  been  made  in  Arts  and  Sciences. — The  Chinefe  Language  not 
jit  for  Arts  or  Sciences : — Thefe,  therefore,  among  them  all,  put  into 
hieroglyphical  "writing  even  their  laxu  bufinefs. — A  Language  of 
Art  necejfary  for  the  invention  of  Arts  and  Sciences. — This  the 
mojl  difficult  of  all  Arts. — Proof  of  this:—Y\r'^  as  to  articulation, 
— This  performed  by  the  organs  of  the  mouth  operating  varioujly. 
—  Thefirfl  organ  of  fpeech  that  appears  to  have  been  chiefly  ufed,  is 
the  throat. — By  this  guttural  founds  are  produced,  fuch  as   the 
Orang  Outang  vfes,  the  Wild  Girl  that   ivas  feen  in   France,  and 
the  Huron  in   North   America. — Articulate  founds   divided   into 
vowels    and   confonajits.  —  The   nature   of   thefe    explained. — The 
voivels  feiv  in  nunibsr,  the  confoncv.::  maity. — The  confonants  much 

more 


-Chap.  I.      A  N  T  I  E  N  T  M  E  T  A  P  H  Y  S  I  C  S.  lo^ 

more  difficult  in  pronunciation  than  the  'voivels.— Differences  from 
thence  accounted  for,  betivixt  the  barbarous  and  civilized  LaU' 
guages. — Another  difference  betivixt  the  barbarous  and  civilized 
Languages,  is  the  extraordinary  length  of  the  ivords  of  the  bar" 
barous  Languages  : — This  accounted  for. — Of  the  origin  of  articu- 
lation.— It  could  not  have  been  brought  to  any  perfeSlion,  but  in  a 
country  vuhere  it  ivas  fudied  and  praSiifed  as  an  Art. — Of  the 
progrefs  of  articulation  from  monofyllabical  ivords  to  ivords  of  fe- 
veral  fy liable s. — Of  the  variety  in  the  fowud  of  Language  by  diph- 
thongs;— and  by  voix'els  and  confonants,  afpirated  and  not  a/pirated, 
— Language  mujl  have  been  analifed  into  its  elemental  founds^  be- 
fore the  found  of  it  could  be  made  fo  perfe^. — Of  the  melody  and 
rhythm  of  Language. — Of  the  expreffion  of  ideas  by  Language.— 
Thefe  of  number  infnite ; — but  divided  into  certain  clajjes  or  parts 
of  fpeech.  —  This  divifion  correfpondent  to  the  divifion  of  our  ideas 
■into  Categories. — The  number  of  ivords  appear  to  be  infinite  •,^— 
made  camprehenfble  in  our  memories,  by  the  three  great  Arts  of 
Language,  Derivation,  Compofttion,  and  Flection.  — Of  Syntax^ 
Mnd  the  neceffity  of  it. — Conclufion,  that  Language  is  the  grsatefl 
of  all  Arts. — Ohjeclion  anfivered,  That  children  learn  to  fpeak 
without  Art.— Speech,  though  a  mofl  common  thing,  is  very  ivon- 
derful : — An  acccufit given  hoiv  it  is  learned; — offo  difficult  in-- 
vention,  that  it  ivould  have  been  a  miracle,  if  Peter  the  Wild  Boy 
hadfpoken  ivhen  he  ivasfirfi  caught,  or  if  the  Orang  Outang  could 
fpeak. — ObjeSiion  anfivered,  to  the  Orang  Outang' s  being  a  Man, 
That  he  is  the  only  Man,  that  has  been  found,  ivho  could  not  fpeak, 
— General  obfervations  upon  the  invention  of  Language. 


1 


N  this  book  I  propofe  to  treat  of  the  invention  of  Arts  and  Soiea- 

ces,  a  principal  part  of  the  Hiftory  of  Man,  the  fiibjed  of  this 

part  of  my  work.     I  will  begin  with   the  invention  of  Language, 

the  parent  art,  as  I  have  faid,  of  all  arts   and  fciences  *,  and  with- 

VoL.  IV.  O  ^  out 

*  Page  70.  of  this  volume. 


io6  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.      Book  IT, 

out  which  we  muft  have  ftlll  continued  an  animal,  only  capable  of 
intelled  and  fcience. 

That  language  is  not  natural  to  man,  but  an  invention  of  art,  I 
think  I  have  proved  fufBciently  in  what  I  have  written  upon  the 
Origin  of  Language  * :  Or  if  the  reader  fhould  have  any  doubt  in  the 
matter,  I  hope  it  will  be  removed  by  what  follows  in  this  chapter, 
where  I  am  to  fhow  that  it  is  not  only  an  art,  but  the  greateft  of  all 
arts,  and  of  the  moft  difficult  invention. 

That  men  mud  have  herded  together,  before  they  could  have  in- 
vented a  language,  or  indeed  any  other  art,  is  evident  ;  for  it  is  only 
by  communication  together,  in  one  way  or  another,  that  men  have 
made  any  difcovery  in  any  art  or  fcience,  a  folitary  Savage  being  in- 
capable of  inventing  any  thing  of  the  leaft  value.  That  animals, 
even  fuch  as  are  incapable  of  intellect  and  fcience,  when  they  herd 
together  can  communicate  without  language,  and  can  even  carry 
on  fome  joint  work,  is  alfo  evident  j  for  the  beavers,  who  not  only 
have  not  the  ufe  of  fpeech,  but  are  incapable  of  acquiring  it,  can 
neverthelefs  carry  on  their  bufinefs  of  building  and  repairing  their 
dams  by  figns  and  gedures  and  inarticulate  cries  t-  And  in  the 
fame  way  the  Orang  Outang  carries  on  his  bufinefs,  building  huts, 
arming  himfelf  with  a  (lick,  and  attacking  and  defending  hinifelf 
againft  his  enemies  :j:.  In  this  kind  of  fecial  intercourfe  men  continu- 
ed, I  am  perfuaded,  a  very  long  time,  before  the)-  invented  a  lan- 
guage ;  which  certainly  took  its  rife  from  animal  criei)§,  varied  per- 
haps by  fome  articulation  which  they  may  have  learned  by  imita- 
tion of  fuch  birds  as  the  Cuckoo  or  Cochitoo,  which  they  may  have 
heard ;  and  I  am  perfuaded  that  they  alio  varied  it  by  mufical 
tones,  that  is  tones  differing  in   gravity  and   acutenefs  ;  for  though 

Man 
•  Vol.  I. 

f  Vol.  III.  of  this  work,  p.  53. 
if  Page  27.  and  following  of  this  volume. 
J  Origin  of  Language,  vol.  I.  Book  III.  Chap.  IV. 


Chap.  I.      ANTIENTMETAPHYSICS.  107 

Man  has  not  from  Nature  the  faculty  of  articulation  like  thefe  birds 
that  1  have  mentioned,  yet  flie  has  given  him  the  power  of  varying 
his  natural  cries  by  tones  of  the  mufical  kind.  By  this  I  would  not: 
be  underftood  to  mean  that  man  by  nature  fmgs  as  fome  birds  do  ; 
but  that  he  has  from  nature  fuch  tones  of  voice,  of  which  mufic 
may  be  formed,  and  of  which,  according  to  Lucretius  and  the  Wild 
Girl  I  faw  in  France,  he  made  fongs  in  imitation  of  the  birds.  I 
am,  therefore,  pcrfuaded,  that  the  firft  languages  were  all  more  or 
lefs  mufical,  as  the  Greek,  Latin,  and  Sanfcrit  were;  and  as  the  Chi- 
nefe  and  the  languages  of  North  America  are  at  this  day  *. 

But  a  language  with  fome  articulation  and  even  variety  of  tones, 
though  it  might  be  fufEcient  to  communicate  men's  appetites  and 
defires  to  one  another,  and  to  carry  on  fome  of  the  ncceflarv  arts  of 
life,  never  could  ferve  the  purpofe  of  expreffing  ideas  and  forming 
arts  and  fciences.  Even  the  Chinefe  language,  though  it  have  a 
good  deal  of  articulation,  and  a  wonderful  variety  of  tones,  by 
which  it  is  fufEcient  for  carrying  on  the  common  bufinefs  of  life, 
yet  is  altogether  unfit  for  communicating  matters  of  art  and 
fcience  ;  and  therefore  that  is  done  among  the  Chinefe,  by  their 
hieroglyphical  writing,  exprefling  not  the  words  of  their  language, 
but  their  ideas.  The  language  they  fpeak  is  in  this  refpcd  fo  defici- 
ent, that  it  is  not  fit  for  carrying  on  their  law  fults;  fo  that  they  have 
no  pleadings,  but  all  their  judicial  proceedings  are  in  iheir  hiero- 
glyphical writing  "j".     It  was,   therefore,  of  abfolute  neceffity  that  a 

O  2  language 

*  Origin  of  Language,  vol.  V.  p.  443.  and  vol.  VI.  p.  132. 

f  This  faft  1  have  taken  from  a  book,  in  two  volumes  }2mo,  entitled,  '  Mifcellane. 
<  ous  Pieces  relating  to  the  Chinefe,'  vol.  I.  p.  i  2.  This  is  a  book  in  which  many- 
curious  particulars  are  related  concerning  both  the  written  and  the  oral  language  of  the 
Chinefe  ;  and  which,  I  think,  well  vouched  by  the  authorities  the  author  quotes.  Accord- 
ing to  the  account  he  gives  of  the  language  they  fpeak,  it  is  the  moll  defective,  and  the 
moft  incoherent  language,  that  is  now  to  be  found  in  the  world,  more  defective  than 
any  of  the  barbarous  languages,  which  I  have  mentioned  in  the  firft  volume  of  the 

Origin 


a 


108  ANT  I  ENT  METAPHYSICS.      Book  IL 

language  of  much  greater  art  than  the  Chinefe,  or  than  any  other 
barbarous  language,  fliould  have  been  invented,  before  any  confide- 
rable  progrefs  could  have  been  made  in  the  invention  of  arts  and 
fciences,  which  could  not  be  without  a  more  perfed  communication 
by  fpeech. 

That  a  language  of  art  is  the  greateft  as  well  as  moft  ufeful  art 
praaifed  by  men,  and  likewife  of  moft  difficult  invention,  1  have 
Ihown  in  feveral  paiTages  of  the  Origin  and  Progrefs  of  Language  *: 
In  one  of  which  t,  I  have  obferved  a  very  great  difference  betwixt 
language  and  the  other  arts  pradifed  by  man  :  That  in  thefe  other 
tts,  fuch  as,  architedure,  fculpture,  and  painting,  nature  has  furnifhcd 
us  the  materials ;  whereas  of  language  we  have  ourfelves  furnifil- 
ed  the  materials,  that  is,  articulate  founds,  which  we  may  be  faid  to 
have  created;  and  this  alone  makes  it  the  moft  wonderful  of  the  arts 
of  men.  But  as  the  difficulty  of  the  invention  of  this  art  is  a  mat- 
ter I  think,  of  great  curiofuy,  and  not  of  common  obfervation  ; — and 
as  it  will  tend  much  to  fupport  the  argument,  which  I  am  to  main- 
tain, that  Egypt  is  the  parevt  country  of  this  as  v/ell  as  of  the  other 
arts  and  of  fciences,  I  will  here  fay  a  good  deal  more  upon  the  fubjed. 

As 

Origin  of  Lsngunge.  And  it  woi.ltl  be  intirely  unfit  even  for  the  ordinary  commerce 
of  life,  if  they  did  not  fupply  the  defeifl  of  their  articulation,  not  by  tones  onIy,but  by 
figns  and  geftures,  and  fomething.like  writing  on  the  paVms  of  their  hands,  (p.  33-). 
1  once  thought  that  the  different  fignificatlons,  which  they  giv€  to  the  fame  monofyl- 
lable,  had  fome  affinity,  fo  as  to  refemble  in  feme  fort  our  derivative,  compounded  or 
infleifted  words.  But  this  author  has  convinced  me  of  the  contrary  by  the  example  he 
has  given  of  the  monofy liable /i(7,  which  has  eleven  different  fignifications,  according 
as  it  is  differently  accented.  In  one  way  accented,  it  denotes  glafs  ;  in  another  way,  it 
fionifies  io  toil ;  in  a  third  way,  to  ivinnoiv  corn  or  rice ;  in  a  fourth  way, /age  or  prudent 
or  liberal ;  in  a  fifth  way,  to  prepare ;  and  in  a  fixth  way,  an  old  -woman,  &c.  (p.  28.)  So 
that  the  wonder  is,  not  that  fuch  a  language  fliouId  need  the  aid  of  geftures,  but  that, 
in  any  way,  it  fliould  be  made  intelligible,  (fee  what  I  have  further  faid  of  this  ftrange 
language,  vol.  VI.  of  Origin  of  Language,  p.    139.  and  following.). 

•  Vol.  I.  book  III.  and  vol.  II.  book  II. 

+  Vol.  IV.  p.  177.  and  following  ;  and  Vol.  VI.  p.  (35.  and  following. 


Chap.  I.        A  N  T  I  E  N  T  M  E  T  A  P  H  Y  S  I  C  S.  109 

As  articulation  is  efTential  to  language,  I  will  begin  with  confider- 
ing  the  nature  of  it  ;  and  I  trufi:  to  make  it  appear,  that  this  alone 
is  fo  complicated  and  various  an  operation,  that  if  there  were  no- 
thing more  in  language,  it  muft  appear  a  work  of  the  greateft  art, 
and  altogether  of  art  j.for  nature  has  done  no  more  than  to  furnifli 
us  with  the  organs  of  this  fo  artificial  operation.  So  that,  articu- 
late founds,  the  materials  of  language,  are,  as  I  have  faid,  intirely  of 
cur  own  produdtion.  —  And  here  we  may  obferve  the  difference  be- 
twixt mufic  and  language.  Nature  has  not  only  given  us  an  organ 
for  mufic  ;  but  we  have  naturally  in  our  voice  the  variation  of 
grave  and  acute,  which  are  the  materials  of  which  mufic  is  formed. 

The  organs  of  pronunciation  are  the  throat,  the  larynx,  the- 
tongue,  the  palate,  the  teeth,  and  the  lips  ;  all  of  them,  as  I  have 
obferved,  out  of  fight,  (except  the  two  lad  mentioned,)  and  their 
operations  very  nice  and  delicate.  As  they  are  for  the  greater  part 
concealed,  their  operations  are  not  perceptible  by  our  fenfes ;  but  if 
we  faw  them,  as  we  fee  the  operations  of  our  hands,  we  fhould,  I 
am  perfuaded,  admire  them  very  much.  Thefe  organs,  which  I  have 
mentioned,  conftitute  what  Mr  Gebelin,  an  author  whom  I  fhall 
frequently  quote  in  the  fequel,  calls  our  vocal  injlniment.  He  has 
very  minutely  and  accurately  defcribed  it  in  the  6th  chapter  of  the 
third  volume  of  his  Monde  Primitif.  According  to  his  defcription 
of  it,  it  is  a  very  complicated  machine  :  And  if  we  can  fet  It  ago- 
ing, and  work  it  by  nature  merely,  without  Inftrudion  or  exam- 
ple, and  without  pra^flice  or  obfervation,  as  fome  imagine,  I  think 
there  is  no  machine  that  we  may  not  work  in  the  fame  manner,  nor 
any  thing  of  art  that  we  may  not  perform  by  mere  inftind.  I  will 
not  repeat  what  M.  Gebelin  has  faid  at  fo  great  length  in  the  chapter 
above  quoted  ;  it  is  fufFicient  for  my  purpofe  to  obferve,  that  the 
breath,  which  comes  from  our  lungs,  and,  pafling  through  the  wind- 
pipe, goes  out  at  our   mouths,  is  the  material  of  which  fpeech   is 

compofed. 


no  A  N  T  1  E  N  T  M  ETAPHYSICS.     Book  IL 

compofed.  Ic  receives  various  modificacions  in  its  paflage  through 
that  part  of  the  windpipe  which  is  called  the  larynx  ;  and  particu- 
larly from  the  upper  part  of  the  larynx,  which  is  called  in  Englifh  the 
knot  of  the  throat,  and  in  French  la  glotte,  by  which  the  breath  enters 
the  mouth  :  And  it  receives  ftill  more  modifications  in  the  mouth,  by 
the  organs  the  mouth  contains,  fuch  as  the  tongue,  the  palate,  and 
the  teeth,  and  by  the  lips,  through  which  it  goes  into  the  open  air. 
By  a  certain  pofition  of  thefe  organs  of  the  mouth,  while  the  breath 
is  paffing  through  it,  are  formed  thofe  articulate  founds,  which  we 
call  voivels  :  And  by  the  different  aftions  of  thofe  organs  are  form- 
ed founds  of  much  greater  variety,  which  are  called  con/o7tants,  but 
which,  as  the  name  imports,  cannot  be  founded  by  themfelves,  but 
only  in  conjundlion  with  the  vowels.  Our  vocal  inftrument, 
therefore,  is  fo  complex,  as  iVl.  Gebelin  has  defcribed  it,  that  it  is 
not  only  a  wind  inftrument  fuch  as  a  flute,  but  alfo  a  ftringed  in- 
ftrument, and  likewife  an  inftrument  that  operates  by  the  touch  like 
an  organ  *.  But  before  the  voice  is  fo  varioufly  modified  by  the 
organs  of  the  mouth,  it  receives  a  modification  by  different  con- 
tractions and  dilatations  of  that  part  of  the  larynx  above  mentioned, 
called  the  knot  of  the  throat,  by  which  are  produced  mufical  tones, 
differing  in  acutencfs  and  gravity  ;  which  tones,  1  am  perfuaded,  ac- 
companied the  pronunciation  of  all  the  antient  languages.  That 
this  was  the  cafe  of  the  Greek  and  Latin,  is  well  known.  The 
Sanlcrit  alfo  was  and  is  ftill  a  mufical  language  in  India,  as  I  have 
elfewhere  obferved  f  ;  and  fo  was  alfo  the  Hebrew  :  And  as  mufic 
is  more  natuial  to  man  than  articulation,  particularly  in  the  fouthern 
Snd  eaftern  countries,  fo  that  I  am  perfuaded  he  fung  before  he 
fpoke,  I  think  it  could  not  well  be  otherwife.  Laflly,  there  is  ano- 
ther modification  of  the  voice  before  it  comes  into  the  mouth  ;  and 
that  is  in  the  throat,  by  which  it  forms  guttural  founds. 

The 

•  Vol   III.  of  Maude  Primitif,  p.  74. 

-5-  Vol.  Yl.  of  Origin  of  Language,  p,  14^. 


Chap.  I.       ANTIENTMETAPHYSICS.  in 

The  fubjeft,  upon  which  all  thefe  various  operation  are  per- 
formed, is,  as  I  have  obferved,  the  breath  from  the  lungs,  which 
pafTes  thiough  the  throat  into  the  mouth,  and  from  thence  into 
the  open  air  ;  and  in  that  paflage  it  receives  all  thofe  vari- 
ous modifications,  which  form  articulation.  The  firft  of  thefe  is 
from  the  throat,  and  the  leaft  artificial  of  anv  of  them.  It  appears, 
therefore,  to  have  been  firft  ufed,  and  more  ufed  than  any  other, 
when  men  firft  began  to  fpeak.  The  Orang  Outang,  who  has  noc 
yet  learned  the  art,  utters,  as  I  have  faid*,  guttural  founds  ;  and  the 
Wild  Girl  I  faw  in  France,  who  had  learned  to  fpeak,  told  me,  that 
the  language  of  her  countrymen  was  full  of  guttural  founds,  and  that 
they  fpoke  every  thing  with  open  mouth.  The  Hurons  of  North 
America  do  the  famet;  and  Baron  Hontan  tells  us,  that  he  fpent  four 
days  to  no  purpofe,  in  trying  to  teach  a  Huron  to  pronounce  the 
labial  confonants,  fuch  as  B,  P,  M  :]:  ;  and  the  leafon  is,  that  fpeech 
was  originally  formed  from  animal  cries,  as  I  have  elfewhere 
£hown§,  which  are  all  with  open  mouth  without  any  ufe  of  the  lips. 

Articulate  founds  are  divided,  as  I  have  fald,  into  vowels  and  con- 
fonants. For  the  pronunciation  of  vowels  nothing  more  is  required 
than  a  certain  pofition  of  the  organs  of  the  mouth,  through  which  the 
biealh  pafles.  They  are,  therefore,  few  in  number;  nor  do  1  know 
that  any  language  in  the  world  has  more  than  five  of  them,  though,  by- 
compounding  them,  they  make,  in  the  languages  of  art,  feveral  more 
vocal  founds,  called  diphthongs.  The  confonants  are  formed  by  dif- 
ferent adlions  of  the  feveral  organs  of  pronunciacion,  which  may  be 
faid  to  articulate  in  the  proper  fenfe  of  the  word,  that  is,  to  break 
and  divide  the  found  of  the  vowels,  which  otherwife  would  be  con- 
tinuous. They  are,  therefore,  much  more  numerous  than  the  vow- 
els,  and   of  pronunciation   very  much  more  difncult;   though  they 

cannot. 
•  Page  28. 

f  Vol.  I.  of  Origin  of  Language,  p.  4^8.  and  following, 

X  Ibid.  p.  502. 

§  Ibid.  Book  III.  Chap.  IV. 


112  ANTIENT   METAPHYSICS.     Book  II. 

cannot  be  founded  without  the  vowels,  that  is,  without   the  breath 
pafling  through  the  mouth. 

From  what  I  have  faid  of  the  nature  of  vowels  and  confonants, 
feveral  particulars  concerning  the  barbarous  languages  may  be  ex- 
plaijied  :  And,  i?«(?,  as  the  vowels  are  abfolutely  neceflary  for  the 
pronunciation  of  language,  and  at  the  fame  lime  are  fo  much  more 
eaJlly  pronounced  than  the  confonants,  it  is  very  natural  that  the 
barbarous  languages,  for  tlie  greater  part,  fliould  have  the  ufe  of  all 
the  five.  All  of  them,  however,  have  not  the  whole^x'^.  The  Chi- 
nefe  has  not  the  U,  but  in  place  of  it  ufes  the  diphthong  EU.  And 
the  fame  is  the  cafe  of  even  the  Englifh  language;  which  like  the 
Chinefe  ufes  the  diphthong  in  place  of  the  fimple  vowel.  But  that 
this  is  not  the  found  of  the  Greek  ypfilotiy  is  evident  from  what  the 
Halicarnaffian  has  told  us,  in  his  treatife  of  compofttion^  of  the  pro- 
nunciation of  that  vowel,  and  which  is  preferved  in  the  French  lan- 
guage. This  alone  may  fhow  us  the  difficulty  even  of  the  pronun- 
ciation of  language  ;  v/hen  a  language,  which  I  reckon  one  of 
the  beft  that  is  now  fpoken  in  Europe,  has  not  the  ufe  of  one  of 
no  more  than  Jive  of  the  mod  fimple  founds  of  language.  But 
that  the  barbarous  languages  ftiould  be  very  deficient  in  the  confon- 
ant?,  is  eafily  accounted  for  from  the  difficulty  of  thejr  pronuncia- 
tion :  And  accordingly,  the  Chinefe  language  wants  the  confonants,  B, 
D,  R,  X,  and  Z  *  :  The  Huron  language,  in  North  America,  wants  the 
confonants  B,  P,  M,  as  I  have  before  obferved  f ,  alfo  the  confonants 
r,V,G,N,  and  even  the  vowel  U, which  the Hurons cannot  pronounce 
for  the  reafons  I  have  given  in  the  paffiage  quoted  below  J.  And  the 
Peruvian  language  vi'ants  no  lefs  than  fix  confonants,  S,  B,  D,  F,  G, 

and 

*  See  the  Mifcellaneous  Pieces,  relating  to  the  Chinefe  above  quoted.  Vol.  I.  p.  24. 

f  Page  III. 

4  Vol.  1.  of  Origin  of  Language,  .2J  edition  p   479. — 48c. 


Oiap.  I.        A  N  T  I  E  N  T  M  E  T  A  P  H  Y  S  T  C  S.  113 

and  X  *.  2do,  This  makes  the  found  of  thofe  languages  very  vo- 
cal, confifting  of  many  fyllabks  of  only  one  vowel.  3/io,  When 
they  ufe  confonants,  they  feidom  ufe  more  than  one  of  them  in  the 
fame  fyllable  ;  fo  that  when  two  confonants  happen  to  ftand  toge- 
ther in  the  fame  word,  they  divide  them  in  the  pronunciation  in- 
to different  fyliables.  Thus  in  the  Peruvian  language,  they  pro- 
nounce Roc-ro  not  Ro  cro'f.  For  to  ufe  more,  would  be  to  join  to- 
gether different  adions  of  feveral  organs  of  fpeech,  which  make  a 
difficult  pronunciation,  and  indeed  impoflibie  to  favages  who  are 
not  accuflomed  to  it :  Whereas,  in  languages  of  more  art,  four 
or  moie  confonants  are  founded  together  in  the  fame  fyllable,  as 
in  the  Greek  words,  trpuyi  and  <?>Xo|,  and  the  Engiilh  wordj 
Jlrength ;  where  the  adion  of  the  different  organs  is  fo  complicated, 
(more  complicated  ilian  any  adion  of  our  hands,  or  any  other  mem- 
ber of  our  body,)  that,  I  am  perfuaded,  no  favage,  unlefs  he  was 
taught  when  young,  could  ever  learn  to  pronounce  thefe  words.  In 
order  to  give  a  variety  to  their  language,  which  they  want  by  hav- 
ing fo  few  confonants,  and  by  not  making  fo  much  ufe  of  thofe  they 
have  as  they  might  do,  they  often  repeat  in  the  fame  word  the 
fame  fyllable,  confifting  only  of  one  vowel,  as  in  the  name  of  a 
Lady  of  Ottaheite,  Othea-Othea  :  And  indeed,  in  a  language  fo 
vocal  as  theirs,  they  could  hardly,  without  fuch  a  repetition,  diflin- 
guilh  the  feveral  words  from  one  another. 

There  is  another  peculiarity  of  the  barbarous  languages,   I   mean 

the  extraordinary  length  of  their  words,  but  which  is  derived  from 

another  fource,  namely,  that  language  was  originally  formed  out  of  a- 

nimal  cries  J,  which  have  all  a  confiderable  length;  fo  that  the  language 

Vol.  IV.  P  of 

*  Vol.  I.  of  Origin  of  Language,  2d  edition,  p.  505. 

t  Ibid. 

t  Ibid.  Book  III.  Chap.  IV. 


1 14  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.     Book  IL 

of  barbarians  is  nothing  but  thofe  cries,  joined  with  fome  aniculation*. 
But  even  with  their  articulation  and  their  words  of  great  length, 
very  diflrerent  in  that  refped  from  the  Chinefc  words,  they  could 
not  exprefs  their  meaning  fully  without  figns  and  geftures,  fuch  as 
our  dumb  men  ufe.  So  that  their  language  may  be  faid  to  be  little 
better  than  the  language  of  dumb  men,  aided  by  fome  articulation. 
And  the  fame  may  be  faid  of  the  language  of  the  Chinefe,  who,  as  I 
have  obferved,  ufe  a  great  many  figns  and  geftures  to  help  out  their 
very  imperfe£l  articulation,  more  imperfedl  I  believe  than  that  of 
any  of  the  barbarous  nations. 

But,  it  will  be  afked,  how  did  thofe  nations  get  their  articulation, 
imperfed  as  it  is  ?  That  they  may  have  learned  to  articulate  fome 
few  founds  from  fuch  birds  as  the  Cuckoo  or  Cockitoo,  if  they 
happen  to  be  in  their  country,  is,  as  I  have  faid,  pofnble3 
But  even  thefe  few  founds  they  could  not  learn  to  articulate  per- 
fectly, as  they  could  hear  thefe  birds  but  feldom,  and  only  at  certain 
feafons  of  the  year  :  For  though  our  children  learn  to  articulate 
founds  very  mugh  mbre  various  and  more  difficult,  by  m.ere  imita- 
tion, it  is  by  hearing  them  continually  for  years  together,  without 
any  interval,  except  when  they  are  fleeping.  There  muft,  therefore, 
have  been  fome  country  where  the  difcovery  was  made,  how  much 
the  expieffion  of  the  human  voice  might  be  enlarged  by  articula- 
tion, and  where  it  was  ftudied  as  an  art  of  the  greateft  ufe  ;  nor  do 
1  think,  that  articulation,  fuch  as  is  fit  for  a  language  of  art,  of  which 
only  I  am  now  fpeaking,  could  otherwife  have  been  invented. 

In 

*  Who  woulJ  know  more  of  the  found  of  barbarous  languages,  may  corifult  voL  I. 
Origin  of  Language ;  and  the  paflages  from  that  vol.  quoted  in  vol.  II.  p.  6.  7.  8.  As 
to  the  length  of  their  words,  there  is  one  mentioned  by  Mr  de  la  Condunrine,  ufed  by 
a  people  that  he  fell  in  with  upon  his  voyage  down  the  river  Amazons,  of  no  lefs  than 
eight  fyllables,  denoting  the  number  three,  the  word  is,  Sohzzjrorincouricie. 


Ciap.  I.        A  N  T  I  E  N  T  ]M  E  T  A  P  H  Y  S  T  C  S.  115 

In  tliis"  invention  there  muft  have  been  a  progrefs,  as  in  the  in- 
vention of  ether  arts  j  an  J  I  think  men  muR  have  begun  with  arti- 
culating one  found,  and  of  that  making  one  word,  before  they  join- 
ed together  feveral  articulate  founds  to  compofe  but  one  word.  In 
fliort,  I  believe,  that  the  firft  languages  were  all  monofyllabical,  as 
the  Chinefe  is  at  this  day.  But  even  this  firft  ftep  in  the  art  of 
language  the  Chinefe  did  not  make,  but  got  it  from  Egypt,  as'  I 
have  faid  elfewhere  *,  and,  I  hope,  rhall  prove  to  the  readers  fatif- 
fadion.  But  it  did  not  remain,  I  am  perfuaded,  fo  long  there  in 
that  infantine  ftate  as  it  has  done  in  China  *;  but  the  monofyllables 
were  lengthend  into  words  of  feveral  fyllabies.  The  monofyllables, 
however,  were  not  for  that  laid  afide,  but  mixed  with  words  of  fe- 
veral fyllabies,  which  made  a  beautiful  variety  in  the  found  of  the 
language  ;  for  without  variety  there  can  be  no  beauty  in  any  art. 
And  befides  this  variety  in  a  perfedl  language,  there  is  the  variety, 
above-mentioned,  of  diphthongs,  or  vowels  run  together  in  the  pro- 
nunciation, and  of  vowels  afpirated  and  not  afpirated,  and  of  confo- 
nants  likewife  afpirated  and  not  afpirated,  and  fuch  as  are  in  the 
•middle  betwixt  thefe  two  "j". 

It  may  be  thought,  that  what  I  have  faid  here,  of  the  firft  lan- 
guages confifting  of  monofyllabical  words,  is  contradided  by  what 
I  have  obferved  of  the  great  length  of  words  in  the  barbarous  lan- 
guages. But  thefe  languages  are  without  art  ;  and  even,  artlefs  as 
they  are,  they  could  not  have  been  invented  by  a  barbarous  people. 
What,  therefore,  they  have  of  articulation,  the  barbarians  muft  have 

.   P  2  o-ot 


t>^ 


•  See  what  I  have  faid  further  of  the  Chinefe  Language,  vol.  VI.  Origin  of  Lan- 
guage, p.  139.  and  following. 

f  See  what  I  have  faid  of  ;he  different  kinds  of  letters,  vol.  IL  of  Origin  of  Lan- 
guage, bock  II.  chap.  IT, 


ii6  A  NTIENT  METAPHYSICS.     Book  I[, 

got   froai    a   people  who   had   the  ufe  of  language,    with  whom 
they   happened   to   have   fome  commtrnication.     From  them  they 
would  learn  to  articulate  fome  words  ;  and  by  imitation  they  would 
be   naturally    led    to   invent   other   articulate    founds :     For   I    do 
not  think,   as  I  have  faid,   that  from  hearing  only  fuch  birds  as  the 
Cuckoo  and  Cockitoo,   fuppofing  them  to  be  in  their  country,  and 
continuing  long  enough  in  it  to  enable  them  to  imitate  their  voices, 
the  mod  barbarous  languages  ever  could  have  been  formed.     Now, 
thofe  articulate  founds,  which  they  had  learned  from   nations  that 
had  an  art  of  language,    they  would  very  naturally  lengthen,   fo  as^ 
to   make   them   refemble  the  animal  cries,   which  they  ufed  before 
they  got  articulate  founds,  and  which  have  a  certain  length.     But 
when  language  was  formed  into  an  art,  which  could  not  have  been 
'among  thofe  barbarians,  and  when  it  was  intirely  removed  from  a- 
nimal  cries,  and  made  to  confift  only  of  articulate  founds  put  toge- 
ther in  a  certain  Older,  it  was  natural,  and,  indeed,  I  think,  necef- 
fary,  that  men  fhould  begin  with  the  mod   fimple  words,  that  is» 
words  of  one  fyllable,  before  they  proceeded  to  compound  thofe 
monofyllables  into  words  of  many  fyllables.     This,    as  I  have  faid, 
in  the  paflage  above  quoted  *,  adually  happened. in   Egypt,   where 
the  iirft  language  of  art  was  invented,  as  I  fhall  afterwards  fhow. 
And  it  was  very  natural  that  it  fhould  be  fo  in  the  firfl  ftep  in  the 
progrefs  towards  a  language  of  art;   for,  if  the  firft  words  of  fucb 
a  language  had  been  words  of  feveral  fyllables,   the  three  great   arts 
of  language,  derivation,   compofition,   and  Jlcdion,   could   not   have 
been  pra£ticed   without  making  the  words  of  great  length,   as  great 
as  the  words  of  the  barbarous  languages.     This  monofyllahical  lan- 
guage came  from  Egypt  to  China,   where  it  is  the  language  at  this 
day  ;   and  with  it  came  alfo  the  written  language,  or  Hieroglyphi- 
cal  charaders,  which  have  fach  a  connexion  with  characters  of  that 

kind 

•  Vol.  VI.  of  Orgin  of  Language,  p.  139.  &c. 


Chap.  I.        A  N  T  I  E  N  T   M  £  T  A  P  H  Y  S  I  C  S.  117 

kind  to  be  feeii  at  this  day  iii  Egypt,  that  they  muft  have  come  from 
the  fame  country*. 

All  the  beauty  and  variety  of  the  found  of  language,  which  I  have 
mentioned,  could  not  have  been  difcovercd,  if  language  had  not  been 
firft  analyfed  into  its  elemental  founds.  This  I  believe  was  done  before 
thefe  elemental  founds  got  a  form,  which  made  them  vifible  to  the  eye; 
that  is  to  fay,  before  alphabetical  charaders  and  writing  was  invented  j 
which  compleated  the  art  of  language,  by  making  it  fpeak,  not  only 
to  thofe  who  are  prefent  but  to  the  abfent,  and  even  to  future  ge- 
nerations f- 

But,  befides  all  the  variety  I  have  mentioned,  there  is  ftill  fome- 
thing  wanting  to  make  a  language  of  perfe£l  art ;  and  that  is  melo- 
dy and  rhythm,  which  make  the  mufic  of  language,  and,  I  believe, 
where  they  were  governed  by  art,  as  they  were  among  the  C  reeks, 
added  more  to  the  pleafure  of  the  ear  than  all  the  things  1  have  men- 
tioned J.  Of  thefe  I  have  treated  very  fully  elfewhere  §  ;  and  I 
will  only  add  here,  that  as  in  animal  cries  there  is  a  variety  of 
founds,  differing  in  tones  as  well  as  in  length,  it  was  very  natural 
that  there  (liculd  be  the  fame  variety  in  language,  which  fucceeded 
to  thofe  cries,  and  may  be  faid  to  have  been  formed  out  of  them  by 
being  articulated  ;  and,  accordingly,  the  mod  antient  languages 
have  all,  as  i  have  obferved,  that  variety.  —  And  thus  I  have  finilbed 
what  1  have  to  fay  of  ihe  Jo uniJ,  or  material  part,  as  I  call  it,  of  lan- 
guage ;  which  1  have  analyfed  into  Articulation,  Meloily,  and 
Rhythm. 

Bus 

*  Vol.  II.  of  Origin  of  Language,  p.  438. 

f  See  more  of  this  fubjeft  in  vol.  II.  of  Origin  of  Language,  book  IL  chap.  II. 
%  See  what  I  ha»e  faid  upon  this  fubjccl,  vol.   VI.  Oiigin  of  Lano-uage,   book  H.. 
chap.  IV.  and  vol.  II. 

f  Vol.  II.  of  Origin  of  Linguagc,  p.  226.  anil  227. 


n8  A  N  T  I  E  N  T   M  E  T  A  P  H  Y  S  I  C  S.     Book  If. 

But  the  found  of  language,  however  mufical  it  may  be,  and  plea- 
fant    to   the   ear,    is   only  fubfervient  to  the  purpofe  for  which  lan- 
guage was  intended  ;  and  that  is  the   expreffion  of  cur   ideas,   and 
the  con^munication  of  them   to  one   another.     A   language  of  art, 
and  which  is  proper  for  the  invention  and  cuhivation  of  other  arts 
amd   of  fciences,   nuift   exprefs  all  the  things  in  the  heavens  or  the 
earth,  of  which  we  have  any  notion  or  conception.     We  muft  give 
names  to  accidents  as  well  as  to  fubftances,   alfo  to  the  feveral  rela- 
tion«  of  things  to  one  another  ;   and  we  muft  exprefs  what  they  fl<5? 
and  what  the  fuffer.     Thefe   things  are   of  number  infinite.     But 
fcience  here  fets  bounds  to  infinity,  as  we  have  (hown  it  does  in  the 
matter  of  our  ideas  of  genufes  and  fpeciefes.     This  is  done  by  the 
di'vifion  of  wMDrds  into  what  is  called  the   Parts   of  Speech,  which 
may  be  called  the  Categories  of  Language; — comprehending,  like  the 
categories,  the  whole  of  things,   but  divided  and  arranged  in  fuch  a 
vv'ay  as  toferve  the  purpofe  of  fpeech;  and  not  confidering  the  nature 
of  things   abftradly,   as   they  are   confidered  in  the  categories,   but 
with   reference   otdy  to  their  ufe  in  language.     They  admit,  howe- 
ver,  of  that  general  divifion  of  the  categories  into  fuhjlance  and  ac- 
cidents \  and   accordingly  Plato  and  Ariftotle  have  divided  the  parts 
cf  fpeech    into  thefe  two,    calling  the  one  of  them  exprefling  Sub- 
ftances  a  noun,  and  the  other  exprefling  Accidents  a  •verb  *. 

Words,  however,  though  they  admit  of  this  divifion  into  clafles, 
appear  ftill  to  be  infinite  in  number,  as  well  as  the  ideas  which  they 
exprefs.  They  would  feem,  therefore,  to  be  altogether  incompre- 
henfible  by  our  memories,  and  confequently  not  fit  for  the  ufe  of 
language  ;  and  they  certainly  would  be  fo,  if  all  things  were  to  be 
exprefled  by  words  having  no  connetSion  with  one  another.  But 
fcience  has  contrived  three  ways  of  connecting  words  together  both 
'by  found  and  fenfe,  fo  that  the  knowledge  of  one   word   naturally 

leads 

*  See  vol.  II.  of  the  Oii^in  of  Language,  p.  2S. 


Chap.  I.        ANTIENT   METAPHYSICS.  119 

leads  to  the  knowledge  of  other  words.  And  thefe  are  the  three 
great  arts  of  language,  known  by  the  names  of  derivation,  cornpo- 
fttion,  and  flexion  *.  Of  thefe  three  arts  I  reckon  fe^ion  the  great- 
eft  ;  for  in  nouns  it  exprefles  numbers  and  genders,  and  by  its  Cafes 
the  feveral  relations  which  the  thing  expreffed  by  the  noun  has  to 
other  things  ;  and  in  the  verb  it  not  only  expreifes  numbers,  but 
perfons,  times,  and,  befides  thefe,  the  difpofitions  of  the  human  mind 
ivith  rejpe5i  to  the  a^ion  of  the  verb  t  .•  And  all  this  is  exprefled 
by  a  variation  only,  and  fometimes  a  very  fmall  variation  of  the 
word.  But  of  all  thefe  three  great  arts  of  language  I  have  faid  (o 
much  in  the  2d  volume  of  the  Origin  of  Language,  and  likewife  in 
the  4th  (book  I.  chap.  II.)  that  I  need  fay  nothing  of  them  here 
except  to  obferve,  that  the  barbarous  languages,  as  they  do  not  ufe 
thefe  arts,  are  extremely  defedive  in  fenfe  as  well  as  in  found  j  and 
are  obliged  to  exprefs  things,  neceflarily  conneded  together,  by 
founds  quite  diflFerent ;  and  not  having  learned  to  divide  their  lan- 
guage into  parts  of  fpeech,  they  very  often  exprefs  two  or  three  dif- 
ferent things,  fuch  as  the  adion,  the  agent,  and  the  fubjed  of  the 
adion,  by  the  fame  word.  All  thefe  defeds  of  barbarous  languages 
i  have  obferved  in  the  firft  volume  of  the  Origin  of  Language. 

Although  we  may  have  given  names  to  all    the  things  of  which 

we 

*  See  the  nature  of  thefe  explained  In  vol.  II.  Origin  of  Language,  p,  12.  and  faJ- 
iowing. 
f  The  variety  of  the  fleftions  of  a  Greek  verb  is  really  wonderful.     I  have  counted 
1300  words  of  different  fignifications,  from  one  theme  of  a  Greek  verb,  fuch  as  rtj-xru 
including  all  the  teni'es  of  the  three  voices,  with  the  variations  of  thefe  tenfes  by  per- 
sons and  numbers,  and'  including  alio  all  the  participles  with  their  feveral  oendcrs,  cafes 
and  numbers,   but  without  t.iking  in  the  derivatives  or  compounds  of  the  verb.     Th-s 
may  appear  incredible  to  a  man  who  has  not  ftudied  language  as  a  fcience,  nor  has  not 
learned  to  diftinguKh  betwixt  a  language  of  arr,  fuch  as  the  Greek,  and  the  languages 
of  barbarous  nations.    It  is  therefore  not  to  be  wondered,  that  Julius  Csfar,  who  was  fo 
ftudiojs  of  language,  fliould  even,  amid  his  great  occupations,   h^ve  written  a  book  De 
Aralcgia,   the   name  the    Latins  gave  to  what  we  czW  feclion. — O^  Csefar's  ftudy  and 
knowledge  of  language,  fee  what  I  have  faid  in  vol.  II.  of  Origin  of  Language,  p.  224. 
225.  ;  and  vol,  VI.  p.  314. 


120  A  N  T  I  E  N  T  M  E  T  A  P  H  Y  S  I  C  S.     Book  I!. 

we  have  any  perception  or  idea,  and  although,  by  the  three  arts  a- 
bove-menlioned,  we  may  have  connedted  together  a  prodigious 
number  of  words,  fo  as  to  make  them  comprehenfible  In  the  memory, 
and  applicable  to  ufe  ;  yet  dill  there  is  fomething  wanting  to  com- 
plete the  art  of  language; — a  thing  of  fuch  confequence,  that  without 
it  all  the  other  things  I  have  mentioned  would  be  of  no  ufe  for  the 
purpofe  of  fpeech.  And  this  fo  neceflary  thing  is  what  is  called  Syn- 
tax, by  which  the  words  are  fo  connected  together,  and  their  rela- 
tion to  one  another  fo  marked,  as  to  make  fpeech  or  difcourfe  ;  for 
if  they  were  not  fo  conneQed,  though  we  might  underrtand  the 
fenfe  of  every  word  the  fpeaker  ufes,  we  could  not  make  out  his 
meaning.  This  art,  therefore,  is,  as  I  have  faid,  the  completion  of 
the  grammatical  art  ;  and  it  is  performed  in  the  learned  languages 
chiefly  by  one  of  the  three  arts  above-mentioned,  namely,  JleSiion^ 
but  in  the  modern  languages  of  Europe,  chiefly  by  juxta-pofition. 
But  of  fyntax  I  will  fay  no  more  here,  as  I  have  treated  of  it  at 
great  length  in  the  Origin  of  Language,  vol.  II.  book  III.  chap.  I. 

In  this  manner,  I  hope,  I  have  convinced  the  reader,  that  lan- 
guage is  not  only  an  art,  but  the  greateft  as  well  the  mod  ufeful 
art  among  men,  and  of  mod  difficult  invention,  being  a  wonderful 
compofition  of  what  may  be  called  the  mechanical  ufe  of  our  organs 
of  fpeech,  by  which  articulation  is  formed  ;— of  mufical  founds,  by 
which  the  pronunciation  of  language  is  fo  much  adorned  ; — and, 
laftly,  of  fcience,  by  which  it  is  reduced  to  rule  and  made  a  per- 
fedl  art. 

What  makes  many  people  believe  that  language  is  natural  to  us, 
is,  that  we  learn  it  when  we  are  children,  and  can  fpeak  it,  when  we 
are  grown  up,  fluently  and  correctly,  if  we  have  been  educated  a- 
mong  people  that  fpeak  it  fo,  without  knowing  any  thing  of  the 
art  of  it.  But  it  is  by  imitation,  not  by  teaching,  that  we  learn  to 
fpeak,   as  well  as  to  do  many  other  things  ;  for  man,  as  Ariftotle 

has 


OIiap.T.         ANTIE  NT   METAPHYSICS.  121 

has  told  us,  Is  the  mod  imitative  of  all  animals :  To  which  I  will 
add,  that  he  is  particularly  fo  by  the  voice  ;  and  in  this  refpe<£t  he 
is  more  imitative  than  the  monkey,  who  imitates  only  by  geftures, 
but  not  by  the  voice.  We  ought  alfo  to  confider,  that  when  we  are 
children  we  learn  moie  eafily  by  imitation,  than  at  any  other  time 
ef  our  lives  ;  and,  indeed,  we  can  then  learn  in  no  other  way  ;  and, 
therefore,  if  wt  have  not  learned  to  fpeak  when  we  are  young,  we 
cannot  learn  afterwards  without  the  greateft  difficulty.  For  proof 
of  this,  Peter  the  Wild  Boy,  being  about  fifteen  years  of  age,  as 
was  conjcflured,  when  he  was  caught  in  the  woods  of  Hanover 
walking  on  all  four,  could  only  learn  to  articulate  a  few  words, 
though  he  was  put  to  fchool,  and  no  doubt  much  pains  beftowed  to 
teach  him,  and  though,  as  he  heard  as  well  as  other  men,  he  might 
by  imitation  have  learned  to  fpeak.  When  fuch  was  the  cafe  of  the 
Wild  Boy,  what  mud  be  the  cafe  of  dumb  men,  who  cannot  learn 
to  fpeak  by  imitation  at  any  time  of  their  lives,  but  only  by  teach- 
ing. In  this  way,  indeed,  they  learn  to  a  certain  degree,  but  with 
the  utmoft  difficulty,  though  they  be  men  of  good  underftanding, 
and  very  defirous  to  learn  fo  ufeful  an  art.  If  any  of  my  readers 
had  feen,  as  I  faw,  the  Abbe  de  I'Epee  in  France  and  Mr  Braidwood 
in  Scotland  teach  their  dumb  fcholars  to  fpeak,  he  would  have 
needed  no  argument  to  convince  him,  that  articulation  was  a  moft 
artificial  thing.  It  was  taught  by  thefe  mafters  with  the  great- 
eft  pains  and  attention  ;  for  they  not  only  fhowed  their  fcholars, 
by  their  own  example,  how  they  were  to  employ  their  organs  in 
pronunciation,  but  they  applied  their  hands  to  the  mouths  and 
jaws  of  their  fcholars,  giving  their  organs  the  pofition  and  ailion 
v/hich  was  proper. 

I  will  only  add  further  upon  this  fubjedt,   that  fpeaking,   though 
it  be  one  of  the  moft  common  things  among  nven,   is  perhaps   the 
moll  wonderful  thiog  to  be  found  in  our  fpecies.     For  that   a  man 
Vol.  IV.  Q^  wjio 


122  A  N  T  I  E  N  T  METAPHYSICS.     Book  IT. 

who  lus  never  learned  the  grammaiical  art,  nor  perhaps  any  arf, 
and  even  a  boy  Co  young  as  to  he  incapable  of  being  taught  any 
art  or  k-ience,  ftiould,  by  imiiatioti  merely  and  habit,  praftlfe  a 
thing  of  fo  great  art  as  language,  and  praftife  it  well  too,  if  he  has 
been  educated  among  people  who  fpeak  well,  is  to  a  philofopher  a 
matter  of  very  great  wonder.  Even  that  he  fhould  learn  in  that  way 
a  laiv^iiage,  fuch  as  ours,  is  wonderful :  But  it  is  much  more  won- 
derful, that  a  boy  in  Athens  Ihould  be  able  lo  learn,  in  that  way,  a 
lan^ua"-e  fo  difficult  as  the  Greek,  of  fuch  variety  of  fledion,  de- 
rivation, and  compofnion,  and  v;ith  melody  and  rhythm  too  fo 
difficult,  that  we  can  only  learn  to  underftand  it  with  a  great  deal  of 
fludy,  but  not  to  fpeak  it  *.  It  can  only,  I  think,  be  accounted  for, 
by  fuppofing  that  our  organs  of  pronunciation  have  an  inftindive 
movement,  fuch  as  there  are  many  in  our  animal  economy,  by 
which,  upon  hearing  any  articulate  founds  uttered,  they  put  them- 
felves  in  a  pofition,  and  make  the  motions,  neceflary  for  imitating 
thefe  founds  ; — very  imperfedly,  no  doubt,  at  firft,  but  more  perfect- 
ly by  continual  practice  for  a  confiderable  time.  But  for  this  pur- 
pofe  the  organs  muft  be  foft  and  pliable,  fuch  as  they  are  when  we 
are  young.  But  when  we  are  advanced  in  years,  and  the  organs 
become  rigid  and  ftiff,  they  cannot  without  the  greateft  difficulty 
be  made  to  accommodate  themfelves  to  the  various  pofitions  and  mo- 
tions which  articulation  requires.  It  was  for  this  reafon  that  Peter 
the  Wild  Boy  could  learn  only  to  articulate  a  very  few  words. 
For  the  fame  reafon,  Baron  Ronton,  as  I  have  faid,  could  not  teach 
a  Huron  to  pronounce  the  labial  confonants,  fuch  as  B,  P,  and  M  f , 
which  are  among  the  firft  that  out  children  learn  to  pronounce  :  And 
for  this  reafon,  likewife,  a  Frenchman,  when  he  is  advanced  in  years, 
cannot  learn  to  articulate  our  afplrated  T,  in  fuch  words  as  ihee, 
though^  thing,  &c. 


Thus 


*  See  upon  this  fubjeft,  vol.  III.  p.  220. 

f  Page  1 J  I.  of  this  vol.  ;  and  vol,  I.  of  Origin  of  Language,  p.  502. 


Chap.  I.        A  K  T  I  E  >-!  T  M  E  T  A  P  H  Y  S  I  C  S.  123 

7hus  I  think  It  is  evident,  that  men,  who  have  the  fenfe  of 
hearing,  learn  to  fpeak  by  imitation,  and  not  imitation  only, 
but  much  pradice  ;  for  that  is  abfolutely  neceflary  to  give 
us  the  ready  ufe  of  fo  complicated  an  engine  as  our  vocal  in- 
ftrument.  But  before  any  art  can  be  learned,  it  muft  be  invent- 
ed ;  and  if  the  pradice  of  it  be  fo  difficult  to  be  learned 
after  it  is  invented,  tije  invention  of  it  muft  be  much  more  diffi- 
cult. It  is,  therefore,  not  to  be  wondered  that  Peter  the  Wild 
Boy  could  not  fpeak  when  he  was  caught,  or  that  the  Orang  Ou- 
tang  does  not  fpeak.  But  the  wonder  would  have  been,  and  in- 
deed I  ftiould  have  thought  it  a  miracle,  if  either  Peter  had  fpoken 
when  he  was  firft  catched,  or  if  the  Orang  Outangs  had  the  ufe  of 
language  in  the  ftate  in  which  they  live;  which  is  only  in  herds,  not 
in  a  fociety  fo  formed  and  regulated  as  could  produce  the  invention 
of  fo  difficult  an  art  as  language. 

I  have  heard  it  faid,  that  if  the  Orang  Outang  be  a  man,  he  is 
the  only  man  that  has  as  yet  been  found,  who  has  not  the  ufe  of 
fpeech.  If  that  were  true,  the  argument  would  not  be  conclu- 
five  ;  for  it  would  only  prove  that  he  is  the  only  man  that  hi- 
therto has  been  found  in  the  natural  ftate.  But  the  fad  is  not 
true  ;  for  Diodorus  SIculus  informs  us  *,  that  there  was  a  Savage 
people  that  inhabited  a  country  near  the  Red  Sea,  who  lived 
in  herdsj  copulated  promifcuoufly,  and  had  not  the  ufe  of  fpeech. 
And  what  muft  have  made  this  people  much  taken  notice  of  is  a- 
nother  particular  that  he  relates  concerning  them,  and,  I  think,  a 
more  extraordinary  thing  ftill  ;  namely,  that  they  lived  without  the 
ufe  of  water,  for  which  he  accounts  from  their  food  being  raw 
fifti.  In  that  way  fome  barbarous  people  have  been  known  to  live 
at  fea  for  many  days  without  frefh  water.  And  a  gentleman  whoai 
I  know,   of  the   name  of  Graham,   fubfifted  for  fome  months  in  a 

Qj2  country 

*  Lib.  3.  cap.  iS. 


124  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.     Book  IL 

country  upon  the  fide  of  Hudfon's  bay,  without  wood  or  water^ 
and,  confequently,  without  the  ufe  of  fire,  upon  game  which  the 
Indians  he  had  with  him  killed  for  him,  and  which  he  ate  raw*. 
There  is,  therefore,  no  rcafon  to  doubt  what  Diodorus  has  told 
us,  of  thefe  wild  men  not  having  the  ufe  of  fpeech  :  And  in  a 
patfage  in  the  beginning  of  his  hiftory,  which  I  have  quoted  elk- 
where,  he  fays  of  all  men  in  general,  that,  while  they  were  in  the 
ftate  of  nature,  before  arts  and  civility  were  introduced  among 
them,  they  had  not  the  ufe  of  fpeech  f. 

I  will  conclude  what  I  have  faid,  at  fo  great  length,  of  language, 
with  fome  general  obfervations  upon  the  fubjed:.  In  \.\\q  frft  place, 
I  think  1  have  faid  enough,  and  the  reader  may  perhaps  think  more 
than  enough,  to  convince  every  man,  that  language  is  not  from  na- 
ture, but  a  work  of  art,  and  of  very  great  art.  The  ufe  of  our 
hands,  that  great  inftrument  of  the  neceffary  arts  of  life,  I  have 
fhown  not  to  be  from  nature  %,  but  one  of  the  firft  fteps  that  man 
made  in  his  progrefs  lovpards  the  arts  of  civil  life.  And  if  fo,  hovsr 
can  we  fuppofe  that  the  ufe  of  organs,  hidden  as  thofe  of  articula- 
tion are,  and  of  more  various  and  artificial  ufe  than  any  other  of 
rur  or-^ans,  (hould  be  from  nature  and  not  from  art. 

if  there  were  any  doubt  in  the  matter,  we  mufi  be  convinced  by 
the  progrefs  we  fee  made  in  this  art,  as  well  as  in  others,  by  the 
barbarous  nations ; — from  the  Troglodytes  mentioned  by  Herodotus, 
who,  when  they  fpoke,  made  a  noife  like  bats  ;  — from  the  favages 
whom  M.  de  la  Condaminc  faw  upon  the  banks  of  the  river  Ama- 
zons, who  make  a  muttering  noife  when  they  fpeak  ; — from  the 
Hottentots,  and   the  people  lately  difcovered  to  the  weft  of  Nev/ 

Mexico, 

•  Vol.  III.  of  this  work,  p.  32.  in  the  note. 

f  Vol.  I.  of  Origin  of  Language,  p.  37U.  2d  edition,  where  I  have  given  the  words, 
of  Diodorus. 

t  Page  35.  and  35.  of  this  vol. 


Chap.  I.      ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  -125 

Mexico,  who  fupply  their  want  of  articulation  byfmacks*; — and  from 
a  people  in  South  America,  whom  I  have  not  hitheito  mentioned, 
called  Chiquites  t,  who  fpeak  fuch  a  jargon,  that  the  Miffionarics 
could  not  learn  it,  nor  did  they  well  underftand  one  another  ;  — 
When,  I  fay,  we  obferve  the  progrefs  of  language  from  thofe  fa- 
vages  to  others  more  advanced  in  the  arc,  fuch  as  thofe  I  have 
mentioned  in  chap.  X.  book  111.  of  vol.  I.  of  Origin  of  Language  ; 
and,  when  from  them  we  proceed  up  to  fuch  languages  as  the 
Greek  or  Sanfcrit,  we  cannot  doubt  that  language  is  an  ait  ia 
Vvhich  there  has  been  the  fame  progrefs  as  in  other  arts. 

2^0,  That  ivriting,  or  the  making  founds  vifible,  is  a  great  art,  no 
body  can  doubt  ;  and  alfo  a  very  ufeful  art,  as  it  connccfls  the  oral 
language  with  the  written  in  fuch  a  manner,  that,  if  we  know  the 
one,  we  alfo  muft  know  the  other  :  Whereas  in  China  the  two 
languages  are  pcrfedly  dilFerenc  ;  fo  that  fome  nations  in  the 
neighbourhood  ufe  the  written  charaders,  or  hieroglyphics  as  they 
are  called,  of  the  Chinefe,  though  ihey  know  nothing  of  the  Chi- 
nefe  oral  language.  But  it  v»-as  a  greater  art,  and  of  much  more  dlf-. 
ficult  invention,  as  it  muft  have  been  invented  before  the  other,  to 
make  ideas  audib/e,  that  is,  to  make  the  operations  of  our  intellect 
perceptible  by  the  fenle  of  hearing,  which  is  done  by  Iangua<^e.  It 
is  this  that  makes  the  difference  betwixt  language  and  animal  cries 
which  exprefs  our  fenfations,  appetites,  and  defires,  but  can  com- 
municate no  ideas  :  And  thus  by  art  we  fupply  what  is  wantin-^ 
in  cur  natural  faculties. 

3//0,  There  is  another  thing  v.-hich  I  have  already  mentioned', 
but  which  1  will  mention  again,  as  1  think  it  more  wonderful  in 
the  art  of  language  than  any  thing  I  have  hitherto  mentioned.  And 
it  is  this,  that  by  means  of  dtrivaiion,  compojition,  and  jlc^ion^   by 

which 
•  See  what  I  have  faid  of  thefe  barbarous  languages,  in  vol.  I.  of  Origin  of  Language, 
book  III    chap.  VII.  and  IX. 

\  Memoires  Geograjh.  Phyfic.  et  Hiftoriq.  Tom.  5.  EJ.  Yverdon,  1767,  p.  122. 


126  ANTI  ENT   M  ET  AP  H  YSICS.     Book  II, 

which  words  are  conneded  together  in  the  found  as  well  as  the 
fenfe,  men  have  contrived  to  make  five  millions  of  words,  the  num- 
ber fuppofed  to  be  in  the  Latin  language  *,  comprehenfible  in  their 
memories  and  of  ready  ufe.  This  muft  appear  very  extraordinary  to 
a  man  who  compares  the  Chinefe  written  language  with  fuch  a  lan- 
o-uage  as  the  Latin.  The  number  of  Chinefe  charaders  is  computed 
to  be  no  more  than  80,000. ;  and  though  they  have  the  diftindion  of 
radical  or  elemental  charaders,  and  of  charaders  derived  from  thefe  t? 
yet  it  is  a  certain  fad,  that  the  learned  among  the  Chinefe  fpen<]  a  great 
part  of  their  lives  in  learning  their  charaders  ;  whereas  a  boy,  in 
the  fpace  of  feven  or  eight  years,  may  make  himfelf  fo  much  raafter 
of  the  Latin  language,  as  to  be  able  readily  to  underftand  any  au- 
thor in  it,  and  even  to  fpeak  it,  if  he  pradife  that  alfo. 

And,  here  I  conCiUde  what  I  have  to  fay  of  the  matter  and  form 
of  a  language  of  ait :  And,  I  hope,  the  reader  will  not  think  it  im- 
proper, that  in  treating  of  fo  important  a  part  of  the  hiftory  of  man, 
as  the  invention  of  arcs,  I  fhould  have  dwelt  fo  long  upon  the  in- 
vention of  the  firft  and  greateft  art  among  men,  and  which  is  the 
foundation  of  all  the  other  arts  of  civil  life,  and  of  civility  itfelf. 
It  is  the  mod  univerfal  art  among  men,  as  well  as  the  moft  an- 
tlent  ;  and,  by  means  of  the  writing  art,  it  is  made  the  moft 
lading.  The  knowledge  of  it  alfo  leads  to  the  knowledge  of 
many  other  things  concerning  our  fpecies,  particularly  our  migra- 
tions from  one  country  to  another,  fuch  as  that  of  the  Ma- 
jars,  or  Hungarians,  as  they  are  now  called,  from  a  country  fi- 
tuated  betwixt  the  Euxine  and  Cafpian  Seas  to  Hungary  and  Lap- 
land X,    and  the  migration  of  our  anceftors,   the  Goths,   from  Crim 

Tartary 

•  This  is  a  computation  of  Bifliop  Wilkins,  in  his  moft  curious  work  upon  language, 
which  he  gives  us  from  Varro.     See  vol.  H.  of  Origin  of  Language,  p,  482. 

+  Pare  Du  Halde,  Tom.  2.  p.  226.  See  alio  the  book  I  have  quoted  above,  Mif- 
tiUatisous  Pieces  relating  to  the  Chinefe,  vol.  I.  p.  18. 

X  See  vol.  VI.  of  Origin  of  Language,  p.  138.  ;  and  vol.  I.  p.  594. 


Chap.  T.  A  N  T  I  E  N  T  M  E  T  A  P  H  Y  S  I  C  S.  ny 

Tartary  to  Germany  and  the  northern  kingdoms  of  Sweden  and  Den- 
mark*. And  there  is  another  thing  proved  by  language,  and  which 
is  ftill  more  interefting  to  the  pliilofopher  ;  and  that  is  the  pro- 
grefs  of  the  human  mind  in  forming  ideas,  the  materials  of  all  our 
knowledge.  This  we  learn  by  the  ftudy  of  the  barbarous  languages, 
which  to  many  may  appear  a  very  ufelefs  and  trifling  ftudy.  But 
by  it  we  learn  what  can  no  otherwife  be  learned,  the  progrefs  of 
the  human  mind  in  the  improvement  of  thofe  two  great  faculties 
the  fource  of  all  our  knowledge  ;  I  mean,  abJlraBion  and  generalifa- 
tion.  How  defedlive  men  were  at  fitft  in  the  exercife  of  thefe  fa- 
culties, and  how  by  degrees  they  improved  them,  is  to  be  learned 
only  from  the  ftudy  of  barbarous  languages. 

There  is  only  one  thing  wanting  to  make  this  part  of  the  hiftory 
of  man  compleat ;  and  that  is,  to  difcover  in  what  country  language 
was  firft  invented  and  formed  into  an  art.  This  is  a  fubje(fl  of  very 
curious  inquiry,  and  which  will  be  treated  in  the  next  chapter. 


CHAP. 

f  Vol.  I.  of  Origin  of  Language,  p.  594. 


12-8  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.     Book  IT. 


CHAP.         II. 


The  ^left'ion  here  to  be  confidered^  is.  In  ivhat  country  or  countries 
•was  a  Language  of  Art  invented? — Language  not  invented  by  every 
Nation  that  /peaks  it. — This  proved  by  the  examples  of  the  Goths^ 
the  Laplanders^  and  the  Greenlanders.—As  Language  is  the  mofl 
jlntietit  Art  among  Men^  it  mufl  have  been  invented  by  a  very  An- 

tient  Civilifed  Nation Men  mufl  have  been  ajjociated,  and  lived 

upon  the  natural  fruits  of  the  Earth,  before  Language  or  any  other 
Aft  could  have  been  invented. — A  regular  Polity  necejfary  for 
that  purpofe^  and  a  clafs  of  Mcnfet  apart  for  it. — La/Ily,  Genius 
and  Natural  Parts  required. — The  Egyptian  Nation,  is  that  in 
•which  all  the  requifites  above-mentioned  for  the  invention  of  Arts^ 
concur. 


IN  -the  -preceding  chapter,  I  think,  I  have  clearly  proved,  that  a 
Language  of  Art,  of  which  only  1  am  now  fpeaking,  is  the 
greateft  art  pradifed  by  men,  and  of  the  moft  difBcuIt  invention,  at 
the  fame  time  of  abfolute  neceflity  for  the  invention  of  other  arts 
and  of  fciences,  which  never  could  have  been  invented  without  fuch 
a  communication  among  men,  as  a  language  of  art,  and  only  a  lan- 
guage of  art,  can  produce.  We  are  now  to  inquire  in  what  coun- 
try or  countries  fuch  an  art  was  invented. 

That  it  is  not  the  invention  of  every  people  who  pradtife  it,  will 
readily  be  admitted.  The  Goths,  for  example,  a  barbarous  people, 
never  could  have  invented  a  language  of  more  art  than  any  which 

is 


Chap.  II.      ANTIENT   METAPHYSICS.  129 

is  at  prefent  fpoken  In  Europe  :  For  it  has  four  cafes  of  nouns 
formed  by  fledion  ;  whereas  the  prefent  languages  of  Europe  vary, 
in  that  way,  only  fome  cafes  of  their  pronouns.  It  is  even  a  more 
perfe£t  language  than  the  Latin  :  For  it  has  one  part  of  fpeech 
which  the  Latin  wants ;  I  mean  the  Article.  It  has  alfo  two  pafl: 
tenfes,  the  aorlft  and  preterperfedl ;  whereas  the  Latin  has  but  one  tenfe 
for  both  :  And  it  has  a  paft  participle  paQive,  which  the  Latin  like- 
wife  wants  *.  The  language  of  Lapland,  of  which  I  have  fpokea 
elfewherefj  never  could  have  been  the  invention  of  fuch  a  people 
as  the  Laplanders  :  And,  accordingly,  we  are  fure  that  it  came  from 
a  very  diftant  country  lying  far  to  the  eaft,  from  whence  it  came 
firft  to  Hungary,  and  then  from  Hungary  to  Lapland.  The  Green- 
landers  are  ftill  a  more  barbarous  people  than  the  Laplanders  ;  and 
yet  they  have  the  ufe  of  a  dual  number  in  nouns,  which  the  Latin 
has  not,  and  form  the  tenfes  of  their  verbs  by  fleQlon,  and  have 
one  tenfe,  which  the  Latin  has  not,  I  mean  a  fecond  future.  This 
I  learned  as  well  as  other  things,  which  I  have  mentioned  in  the 
courfe  of  this  work,  from  a  grammar  of  that  language,  to  be  found 
in  the  King's  Library  at  London. 

As  languages,  therefore,  v>rere  not  invented  in  every  country, 
But  muft  have  gone  from  one  country  to  another,  the  queftion  is, 
where  they  were  firft  invented.  And,  in  xhejirjl  place,  as  language 
is  the  moft  antient  art  among  men,  being  the  parent  art  of  all  other 
arts  jnd  of  all  fcience,  it  is  evident,  that  the  nation,  which  firft  in- 
vented it,  muft  have  been  a  very  antient  nation,  and  the  firft  civilif- 
cd  nation  of  this  earth. 

Vol.  IV.  R  2d6, 

*  This  account  of  the  Gothic  language,  I  have  got  from  Mr  Thorkelin,  who  is  at 
prefent  Profeflbr  in  the  Univerfity  of  Copenhagen,  but  is  a  native  of  Iceland,  where  the 
Gothic  language  is  ftill  preferved  in  the  greateft  purity.— See  further  of  the  Gothic 
Language,  in  vol-  I.  of  Origin  of  Language,  p.  552. 

-|-  Vol.  VL  of  Origin  of  Language,  p.  138, 


130  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.      Book  11. 

2dOy  As  neither  language,  nor  indeed  any  art  of  value,  could  have 
been  invented,  except  bv  men  aflbciated  together  in  confiderable 
numbers,  and  living  in  clofe  intercourfe  and  communication,  it  is  e- 
vident  that  the  country  where  language  was  firft  invented,  muft 
have  been  fuch  as  could  enable  men  to  live  upon  the  natural  pro- 
duQions  of  the  earth,  without  even  thofe  arts,  which  we  call  the 
neceffary  arts  of  life  :  For  that  men  muft  have  lived  a  long  time 
in  that  way,  before  thefe  arts  were  invented,  I  think,  is  evident ; 
and  they  muft  have  lived,  aflbciated,  as  I  have  faid,  and  in  confider- 
able numbers,  otherwife,  I  think,  no  art  could  have  been  invented, 

2,tio,  For  the  invention  of  a  language  of  art,  it  was  alfo  neceffary 
that  men  fliould  live  not  aflbciated  only,  or  even  carrying  on  fome 
common  bufinefs,  but  that  they  {hould  have  a  regular  polity,  in 
which  fome  were  to  command  and  dire£t,  while  others  obeyed,  fo  that 
all  public  bufinefs  might  be  regularly  carried  onj  for,  I  fay,  that  men, 
living  as  the  favages  of  Paraguay  did  before  the  Jefuits  came  among 
them,  without  any  regular  government,  and  every  man  doing  what 
feemed  good  in  his  own  eyes,  never  could  have  invented  an  art  of 
any  value,  much  lefs  an  art  of  language,  fuch  as  the  Sanfcrit  or 
Greek  ;  for  the  Invention  of  which  not  only  a  regular  polity  was 
neceflliiy,  but  I  think  it  was  further  neceflary,  that  a  clafs  or  order 
of  the  beft  men  among  the  people  fliould  be  fet  apart  for  the  in- 
vention and  cultivation  of  arts.  For  I  hold  that  arts  of  fo  difficult 
invention  as  that  of  language,  never  could  have  arifen  from  com- 
mon ufe  and  obfervation  of  men  engaged  in  the  ordinary  bufinefs 
of  life. 

Lajlly,  I  require,  for  the  invention  of  the  arts  I  have  mentioned, 
that  the  inventors  of  them  ihculd  be  men  of  genius,  and  of  very 
good  natural  parts  :  For  Nature  muft  lay  the  foundation  of  all  arts 
and  fciences ;  and  I  deny,  that  fuch  men  as  the   Laplanders  and 

Greenlanders, 


Chap.  II.      ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  131 

Greenlanders,  fuppofe  they  had  enjoyed  all  the  other  advantages  I 
have  mentioned,  could  have  invented  a  language  of  art. 

Thefe  are  the  things  required  for  the  invention  of  a  language  of 
art,  fuch  as,  I  think,  it  muft  be  admitted,  are  not  to  be  found  in  every 
nation  which  has  the  ufe  of  language  :  And  the  queftion  now  to 
be  confidered  is,  whether  we  can  difcover  any  very  antient  nation  in 
which  all  the  things  I  have  mentioned  concur.  And,  I  think,  there 
is  one  to  be  found  in  which  they  all  concur  j  and  that  is  the  Egyp- 
tian* 


Ha  CHAP. 


x^i  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.    BookIL 


C    H    A    P.       in. 

The  Egyptian  nation  undoubtedly  a  'uery  antient  c'lvlUfed  nation. — > 
None  can  pretend  to  be  fo  antient ^  except  the  Indian. — A  regular 
Government  among  the  Egyptians  In  the  niojl  antient  times. — This 
attejled  by  Mofes. — No  other  regular  Government  then  knoivn. 
—Of  the  ixonderfui  number  of  Kings  there  according  to  HerO' 
dotus  and  Dlodorus  Slculus,  from  Menes  the  frfl  human  King, 
doivn  to  Amafts. — Of  the  number  of  years  thefe  Kings  reigned. — ■ 
The  antient  hlflory  of  Egypt  a  matter  of  curlofity^  as  ivell  as  the 
ajitlcnt  hlflory  of  Greece.  — Both  to  be  confidered  as  part  of  the  hlflo" 
ry  o/'Mati. — T^e^fecond  thing  required,  of  a  country  where  language 
luas  to  be  Invented,  Is  that  It  fhould  be  abundant  of  the  natural 
fruits  of  the  earth.  This  the  cafe  of  Egypt. — The  third  thing  re- 
quired, is  a  regular  government  fitted  for  the  Invention  and  culti- 
vation of  arts. — This  alfo  In  Egypt. — The  lafl  thing  required,  in 
a  country  fit  for  the  invention  tf  language,  is  that  the  people  floould 
have  good  natural  parts. — This  alfo  the  cafe  of  the  Egyptians ^  as 
is  prjQved  by  the  authority  of  facred  and  frofane  -writers. 

THAT  the  Egyptian  was  a  very  antient  civilifed  nation,  is  a  fad 
indifputable.  The  moft  antient  civilifed  nation  at  prefent  exifl- 
ing  (for  the  antient  Egyptian  nation  is  now  no  more)  is  the  Indian, 
by  fome  thought  to  be  more  antient  than  the  Egyptian:  But  I  hope  I 
(lull  be  able  to  prove  to  the  readers  facisfadlion,  that  the  Indians  got 
their  civility  and  arts  from  the  Egyptians  ;  and  if  fo,  there  can  be 
no  doubt,  that  the  Egyptian  is  the  moft  antient  civilifed  nation  of 
which  there  is  any  record  or  tradition.  For  their  antiquity,  as  a  ci- 
vilifed nation,  we  have  the  authority  of  Mofes,  the  moft  antient 
^iftorian  extant,  who  tells  us,  that  when  Jofeph  vi-as  in  Egypt,  the 

Egyptians 


Chap.Hl.    ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  133 

Egyptians  were  living  under  a  regular  government  by  Kings,  with 
a  divifion  of  their  land,  fuch  as  is  not  to  be  found  in  any  other  an- 
cient ftate  as  far  as  I  know,  by  which  the  Priefts  had  a  certain  por- 
•tion  allotted  to  them  * ;  and  I  am  perfuaded  that  the  King  had  ano- 
ther portion,  and  that  the  whole  land  was  divided  in  the  manner  men- 
tioned by  Dlodorus  Siculus,  that  is,  betwixt  the  King,  the  church, 
and  the  military  clafsf:  In  the  fame  manner  as  by  the  feudal  fyflem 
the  land  was  antiently  divided  in  Britain,  and  in  other  kingdoms 
;of  Europe,  And  it  is  to  be  obferved,  that  while  the  Egyptians  were 
Jiving  under  this  fo  regular  polity,  the  families  of  Abraham  and  Lot, 
^nd  I  fuppofe  many  other  families,  were  vagrants  in  the  plains  of 
Afia,  without  being  formed  into  any  ftate.  As  to  the  account 
which  the  Egyptians  themfelves  gave  from  their  Sacred  books,  that 
is,  books  kept  by  their  Priefts,  of  the  antiquity  of  their  nation,  we 
have,  in  Herodotus  and  Dlodorus  Siculus,  a  wonderful  catalogue  of 
<Klngs  from  Menes  the  firft  human  King,  down  to  Amafis  the  lafl 
King  before  the  Perfian  Conqueft,  not  lefs  than  345.  And  as  to  the 
number  of  years  thofe  Kings  reigned,  the  Priefts  told  Herodotus, 
■that  from  Bacchus,  one  of  the  third  and  laft  race  of  their  God- 
'Kings,  as  they  called  them,  down  to  this  Amafis,  there  were  15,000. 
years  ;  and  this  they  faid  they  knew  esadly,  by  computation  of 
the  years  of  their  feveral  reigns,  which  were  all  fet  down  in  their 
Jbooks  4; :  So  that  the  firft  thing  I  required  in  the  parent  country  of 
language,  exifted  in  Egypt ;  I  mean  antient  civillfation,  more  antient 
than  that  of  any  other  nation  known. 

The 

*  Genefis,  chap.  47.  v.  22. 
t  Lib.  I.  cap.  73. 

^    K«i  rcivTa  Ai'/vvrici    ar^fK'.m;  (puiri    oricrTXffxt,   mil    -ti    >.cyi^ef.itciy    xiti   aid   otTroyja^*- 

^<ia(  rx  irm.  Lib.  2.  cap.  145.  With  this  calculation  agrees  very  well  another  chro- 
nological monument  of  a  very  extraordinary  kind,  and  fuch  as  I  believe  no  other  na- 
tion ever  had  ;  I  mean,  the  ftatues  of  the  High  Priefts  of  Jupiter  in  Thebes.  Of  thefe 
I  have  fpoken  at  feme  length  in  vol.  I.  of  the  Origin  of  Language,  p.  625.  of  the  fe- 
cond  edition. 

The 


134  ANTIENT  METAPHTSICS.      Book  II. 

The  fecond  thing  that  I  required,  in  the  preceding  chapter,  for  a 
country  where  language  was  to  be  invented,  is  that  it  ihould  be  a 
country  in  which  men  could  live  in  confiderable  numbers,  and  ia 
clofe  intercourfe  and  communication,  upon  the  natural  produ(3;ions 
of  the  earth,  without  even  thofe  arts  which  we  call  the  neceflary  arts 
of  life.  Now,  there  is  no  country  in  the  world  more  abundant  In 
thofe  natural  produdions  than  Egypt :  For  men  there  can  fubfift, 
not  only  upon  the  land,  but  upon  the  river;  and  not  only  upon  the 
fi{h  that  are  taken  in  it,  but  upon  vegetables  which  grow  in  it,  and 
in  the  marflies  *.  And  Herodotus  tells  us,  that  in  his  time  there 
was  a  part  of  the  nation  who  lived  in  the  marfhes  upon  the  vege- 
tables there  produced,  without  agriculture  f. 

A  third  thing  I  have  required,  in  the  country  where  language  was- 
to  be  invented,  is  not  only  that  men  fhould  be  aflociated  together, 
but  that  they  (hould  live  under  a  regular  polity  :     And  particularly 

that, 

The  antient  hiftory  of  Egypt  is  a  matter,  I  think,  of  great  curiofity,  and  a  very  im« 
portant  part  of  the  hirtory  of  man.  It  is  a  fubjeft  upon  which,  and  upon  the  antient 
hiftory  of  Greece,  I  have  a  great  many  flieets  in  M.  S.  Thefe  I  may  feme  time  or 
another  publifli  in  a  volume  by  itfelf.  But  it  would  not  be  proper  to  make  it  any  part 
of  a  work,  fuch  as  the  prefent,  though  it  may  not  improperly  be  confidered  as  an  ap- 
pendix to  it.  In  it  I  will  (how  that  the  Egyptian  chronology,  however  extraordinary 
it  may  appear,  is  fupported,  as  much  as  any  chronology  can  be,  by  human  monu- 
ments :  And  I  will  endeavour  to  account  how  it  comes  Jo  be  fo  different  from  the 
chronology  of  our  Sacred  Books. 

•  See  Diodorus,  lib.  i.  cap.  34.  and  43.  where  he  mentions  two  plants,  the  Zc/aj, 
which  grew  in  the  river,  and  of  which  they  made  bread  before  they  got  the  ufe  of 
corn  ; — and  \.hz  ^groffis,  which  grew  in  their  marfhes,  upon  which  they  fattened  cattle 
when  Diodorus  was  in  Egypt,  but  upon  which  they  lived  when  in  a  wild  flate  :  And 
of  this  their  antient  food,  Diodorus  fays,  the  memory  was  preferved  in  theu:  facrifices 
in  his  lime.     (di£t.  cap.  43.). 

f  Lib.  2.  cap.  92. 


Chap.  HI.     ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  135 

thatj  in  fuch  a  country,  a  clafs  or  order  of  the  beft  men  among  the 
:peop]e,  fliould  be  fet  apart  for  the  invention  and  cultivation  of  arts. 
Now,  in  t  is  refpedt,  I  {hall  fhow,  when  I  come  to  treat  of  go- 
vernment, that  the  Egyptian  government  was  the  beft  we  have  ever 
heard  of,  and  particularly  that  it  was  more  fitted,  than  any  other, 
for  the  invention  and  cultivation  of  arts  and  fciences. 

The  laft  thing  I  required  was,  that  befides  a  good  form  of  polity, 
tending  to  promote  arts  and  fciences,  the  people  fhould  have  a  genius 
and  natural  parts  which  made  them  fit  for  the  invention  and  cultiva- 
tion of  arts  and  fciences.  If  that  be  wanting,  though  the  country  have 
all  the  other  advantages  I  have  mentioned?  the  people  will  make 
very  little  progrefs  in  the  invention  of  arts  and  fciences.  Suppofe 
Lapland  to  be  poilefl'ed  of  all  the  advantages  which  I  have  found  in 
Egypt,  I  do  not  believe,  that  the  people  there  could  have  invented 
any  art  worth  mentioning  :  Nor,  do  I  think,  that  any  of  the  other 
countries  of  Europe,  though  more  favoured  by  the  fun  than  Lap- 
land, could,  with  the  genius  they  have,  have  made  any  confider- 
able  pr-ogrefs  in  the  difcovery  of  the  liberal  arts  and  fciences :  For 
men  of  ordinary  capacity  may  be  taught  or  may  learn  by  imitation  ; 
but  to  invent  requires  more  than  ordinary  underftanding.  Now, 
that  underftanding  the  Egyptians  had  ;  and  were  acknowledged, 
•even  by  the  Greeks,  to  be  men  of  fuperior  parts,  as  appears  from 
feveral  palTages  in  Herodotus,  particularly  from  that  where  he  re- 
lates how  the  Elians  confulted  them  about  the  way  they  fliould  de- 
termine to  whom  the  prizes  of  their  games  were  to  be  adjudg- 
ed *.  Mofes,  we  are  told  in  our  Scripture,  was  learned  in  all  the 
^fdom  of  the  Egyptians  f  :  And  it  is  faid  of  Solomon's  wifdom, 
that  it  excelled  all  the  ivifdom  of  Egypt  %.     The  Greeks,   however, 

called 

*  Herod,  lib.  2.  cap.  160. 

f  A£ls  of  the  Apoftles,  cap.  7.  v.  22. 

X  I.  Kings,  cap.  4.  v.  30. 


136  A  NT  I  EN  T  METAPHYSICS.     Book  IL 

called  the  Egyptians  as  well  as  other  nations,  barbarians  ;  and  fo 
the  Egyptians  called  them,  for  this  reafon,  as  Herodotus  tells  us*, 
that  they  fpoke  a  language  different  from  theirs;  and  it  is  in 
this  fenfe  that  Homer  has  ufed  the  word,  when,  fpeaking  of  a  peo- 
plt  who  fought  at  Trov,  he  fays  they  were  ^a^^u^o^uvoi  \, 

And  thus  I  think  I  have  proved,  that  Egypt  was,  of  all  the  coun- 
tries we  have  heard  of,  the  moft  proper  for  the  invention  of  Ian* 
guage,  and  of  arts  and  fciences» 

*  Herod,  lib.  2.  cap,  158a- 
t  Iliad,  2.  V.  867, . 


CHAR 


Chap.  IV.     A  N  T  I  E  N  T  M  E  T  A  P  H  Y  S  I  C  S.  137 


CHAP.        IV. 

OJ  the  necejfity  of  Arts  being  invented  in  Egypt. — Other  Arts  men- 
tioned as  invented  in  Egypt,  be/tdes  the  Art  of  Language : — And, 
firjl  Agriculture,  by  nvhich  oyily  Men  could  fuhfijl  in  ihe  fame  place 
in  confiderable  numbers,  and  fo  have  a  cloje  communication  toge- 
ther.— Before  this  Art  "was  invented,  the  Egyptians  ate  one  ajio- 
ther  ;  and  fo  did  the  Greeks. — This  Art  came  from  Egypt  to  other 
'''ountries,  and  particularly  to  Attica.  —  The  Art  alfo  of  makmg 
Drink,  as  ivell  as  Food,  for  Men,  invented  in  Egypt,  viz.  the 
Art  ©/"Fermentation,  by  li'hich  both  Wine  and  Ale  are  produced, 

"I  N  a  country  fo  fitted  by  nature,  and  the  genius  of  i:s  inhabitants, 
-*    for  the  invention  and  cuhivation  of  arts  and  fciences,   and  at  the 
fame  time  the  moft  antient  civilifed  country  that  we  read  of,   it  was 
neceflary  that   many  arts  and  fciences   (hould   be   invented  ;  and   I 
am  now  to  fhow,  that  among  others  was  invented  the  art   of  lan- 
guage, the  foundatid(i  of  all  arts  and  fciences.     But  before  I  come 
to  fpeak  of  it  particularly,  I  will  give  an  account  of  other  arts  and 
fciences  that  weie  invented  in  Hgypt,    the  original  ■  country,  in    my 
opinion,  of  all   arts  and  fciences.     I    will  begin   with  Agriculture, 
which  may  be  faid  to  be  the  parent  art,  which    has  produced  all   o- 
thet  arts,  and  all  fciences  :    For  the  pradice  of  this  art  makes  it  ne- 
ceflary  that  men  fhould  live  together  in  one  place  and  in   confider- 
able numbers  ;   and  by  the  fruits  it  produces,   it  enables  them  to  do 
fo.     Accordingly,  the  Egyptians  lived  by  nicans  of  this  art  in  great- 
er numbers  than  1  believe  ever  any  peoole  did  in  the  fame  extent  of 
country,  and  I'.kewife  in  the  cloneft  comir.unicaMon  and  inlercourfe  ; 
for  they  lived  In  clt'xs.     Now,   it  is  only  people    fo   afTociated,  and 
Vol,  IV.  S  v.-iih 


138  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.     Book  IL 

with  fuch  communication  and  intercourfe,   who  are  capable  of  in- 
venting arts  and  fciences  :     For  the  men  who  lead  the  nomade  life» 
and  fubfift  upon  the  natural  fruits  of  the  earth,  or  like  the  beafts  of 
prey,  upon  what  they  can  catch  by  hunting,  though  they  may  have 
got  the  ufe  of  language  from  other  countries,  never  can  invent  any  art 
worth  the  mentioning, and  no  fcience  at  all;  and  the  reafon  is  plain, 
that  they  muft  go  from  place  to  place  in  fearch  of  food,  and  cannot  have 
that  clofe  communicatior  and  intercourfe,  by  which  alone  the  humaa 
mind  is  cultivated,  and  made  capable  of  producing  arts  and  fciences. 
And  though  they  had  the  capacity  of  inventing  them,  which  I  think 
?hey  could  not  have,  they  are  fo  much  employed  in  procuring  fub- 
hftance,  that  they  have  not  time  for  it.    For  in  every  country  where 
art?  and-fciences  are  to  be  invented  and   cultivated,   there  muft  be 
men  who  have  leifure  for  that  purpofe,  and  are  exempted  from  the 
neceflity  of  procuring  fubfiftance  for  themfelves,  which  was  the  cafe 
of  the  Priefts  in  Egypt.     And,  accordingly,   there  is  no  example  in 
the  hiftory  of  mankind  of  men  living  the  nomade  lifcj  inventing 
any  art  or  fcience,  though  they  may  have  had  the  ufe  of  fome  arts, 
which  they  got  from  other  nations  leading  the  fedentary  life. 

Before  Agriculture  was  invented,  the  Egyptians  lived  upon  the 
natural  produce  of  their  land  and  river,  which,  I  have  obferved  elfe- 
where,  was  more  abundant  in  Egypt  than  in  any  other  country 
whatever  *.  And  there  were  particularly  two  plants  upon  which  they 
chiefly  fed  before  they  difcovered  the  ufe  of  corn.  Thefe  were  the 
Lotus,  and  a  plant  they  called,  Agrojlli  ;  both  1  believe  the  gift  of 
the  river,  which  the  Lotus  certainly  was.  The  Agroftis  in  later 
times  was  ufed  for  fattening  cattle  :  But  the  memory  of  its  hav- 
ing been  ufed  for  the  food  of  men  was  preferved  in  their  folemn 
facrificest'  Men  multiplied,  as  it  appears,  fo  faft,.  that  the  na- 
tural 

•  Vol.  I.  of  Origin  of  Language,  p.  649.  and  650. 

+  See  Diodoriis  Siculus  concerning  this  plant,  lib.  I.  csp.  34.  where  he  fpeaks  alfo. 
9f  the  Lotus,  of  which  he  fays  they  made  bread. 


Chap.  IV.     A  N  T  I  E  N  T  M  E  T  A  P  H  Y  S  I  C  S.  139 

tural  fruits  of  the  country,  however  abundant,  could  not  maintain 
them.  And,  therefore,  as  Diodorus  informs  us*,  they  ate  one  ano- 
ther :  So  that,  even  the  Egyptians,  the  moft  antient  and  befl:  civi- 
lifcd  nation  of  the  world,  as,.  I  think,  I  fhall  prove  in  the  fequel  of 
this  work,  were  once  as  barbarous  man-eaters  as  the  people  of  Pa- 
raguay ;  and  fo  were  the  Greeks,  (the  fineft  nation  in  the  world, 
in  my  opinion,  next  to  the  Egyptians),  as  Horace  tells  us, 
when  Orpheus  came  from  Egypt  to  civilife  them  f.  This  fhows 
that  barbarity,  and  even  the  eating  one  another,  when  other  food 
cannot  be  found,  is  a  necelTary  ftep  in  the  progrefs  of  men  from  the 
natural  to  the  civilifed  life  ;  and  that  it  is  only  by  arts,  and  a  re- 
gular polity,  that  men  can  be  tamed  and  humanifed,  as  the  Para- 
guaife  were  by  the  Jefuits. 

In  this  barbarous  way  the  Egyptians  lived,  till  Ifis,  the  fifler  and 
■wife  of  Ofiris,  dilcovered  wheat  and  barley,  which,  as  Diodorus 
tells  us,  were  the  natural  produce  of  the  country,  (as  I  am  inclined 
to  believe,  every  plant  which  the  earth  produces  was  to  be  found 
in  a  country  fo  fruitful  as  Egypt  1,  and  grew  with  other  herbs,  but 
were  not  known  by  the  inhabitants  till  Ifis  difcovered  them  as 
plants  the  moft  proper  for  nourifhing   men  ^ ',    the   memory   of 

S  2  which 

*  Diodorus,  lib.  i.  cap.  14. 

t  See  p.  95.  of  this  volume,  where  I  quote  two  lines  of  Horace,  to  which  may  b« 
added,  the  third  following, 

Diilus  ab  hoc  lenire  tygres  rabidofque  leones  j 

for,  I  think,  the  Greeks  when  Orpheus  came  among  them,  as  the  Paragualfe  before 
they  were  civililed  by  the  Jefuits,  may  be  very  projjerly  compared  to  tygers  and  lions  ; 
and,  indeed,  men  in  fuch  a  ftate,  are,  by  their  natural  fagacity,  with  the  addition  of 
fonie  arts,  which  they  may  have  invented  or  got  from  other  countries,  animals  more 
formidable  than  tygers  and  lions. 

X  Diodorus,  lib.  i.  cap,  14. 


140  ANTIENTMETAPHYSICS.     Book  11. 

which  was  preferved  in  Egypt,  even  in  his  time,  by  offering  to  this 
Goddefs  the  firft  fruits  of  thefe  plants,  in  the  beginning  of  their  har- 
veft.  Diodorus,  it  may  be  obferved,  mentions  only  wheat  and  bar- 
ley. But  there  was  another  grain  in  Egypt,  which  they  called  Zea^ 
and  which,  as  the  Halicarnaffian  tells  us,  was  the  Far  of  the  Ro- 
mans. This  grain  was  a  much  finer  grain  than  the  common  wheat, 
though  I  believe  of  the  fame  genus  ;  for  which  reafon  it  is  likely 
that  it  is  not  diftinguiihed  by  Diodorus  from  wheat.  But  Hero- 
dotus has  made  the  diftindlion,  and  informed  us,  thit  the  better  fort 
of  people  in  Egypt  ate  no  bread  but  what  was  made  of  the  Zea  or 
Olyron,  as  it  was  likewife  called*.  Whether  thefe  plants  were  then 
produced  in  any  other  country  in  the  world,  I  will  not  take  upon 
me  to  determine,  though  1  incline  to  believe  that  they  were  nor. 
But  one  thing  is  certain,  that  the  culture  of  them  firft  began  in 
Egypt)  and  from  thence  was  carried  to  different  parts  of  the 
world  f.  So  that  the  bread  we  eat  at  prefent,  1  am  perfuaded,  we 
owe  to  this  Goddefs  Ifis,  or  Ceres,  as  fhe  was  called  by  the  Romans, 


-cujus  munere  tellus 


Chaoniam  pingui  glandem.  mutavit  arifta.]:. 

for,  in  other  countries,  where  they  had  not  fuch  plants  as  the  lotus 
and  the  agrojlis^  the  men  were  obliged  to  live  upon  acorns,  as  we 
are  told  the  Arcadians  did  in  antient  times,  and  no  doubt  many 
more  nations  didj  in  countries  where  they  could  find  that  fruit. 

The  firft  people  in  Europe,  that  this  gift  of  the  Goddefs  came  to,. 

were: 

*  Herod,  lib.  2.  cap.  35. 

f  The  fineft  kind  of  wheat,  or  Zea,  is  not  to  be  found  at  prefent,  as  I  am  informed, 
any  where  in  Europe  except  in  Sicily.  From  thence  I  wonder  that  we  do  not  gei 
the  feed  of  it,  and  try  to  cultivate  it  in  Dritain, 

+  Georgic.  VirgiL  in  initio. 


Chap.  IV.     A  N  T  I  E  N  T   M  E  T  A  P  H  Y  S  I  G  S.  141 

were  the  Athenians,  to  whom  the  feeds  of  the  feveral  corns,  I  have 
mentioned,  were  brought  by  an  Egyptian  woman,  whom  the  Athe- 
nians made  to  be  Ceres  herfelf ;  and  perhaps  (he  might  have 
aflumed  that  name.  She  inftituted  thofe  moft  refpedtable  myfteries 
called  the  Elufinian.  From  Athens  corn  v/as  fent  to  the  feveral 
cities  of  Greece,  which  was  acknowledged  by  an  annual  oblation  of 
their  firft  fruits,  fent  by  thofe  cities  to  Athens  *. 

As  by  Ifis  a  plant  was  difcovered  which  furnlihed  bread  to  man,. 
fo  by  Ofiris,  her  hufbaud  and  brother,  an  art  was  invented  of  mak- 
ing a  drink  for  man.  This  art  is  what  is  c&Ued  fermentation,  which 
he  applied  to  the  juice  of  the  grape  ;  and  fo  firft  made  wine,  which 
though  it  has  been  very  much  abufed,  (as  almoft  every  produdion 
of  nature  and  art  has  been  by  man),  and  therefore  is  very  properlv 
ftilled  by  Milton,  The/iveet  poi/on  of  mijiifed  Wine,  may  be  applied 
to  the  moft  ufeful  purpofes  ;  for  it  is  the  beft  cordial  of  old  age, 
and  at  all  times  of  life  it  enlivens  the  fpirits,  and  therefore  Bacchus 
is  called  by  Virgil,  Letitiis  dator,  and  it  cherifhes  the  ftomach. 
But  it  is  a  great  abufe  of  this  liquor  in  modern  times,  to  drink  it 
pure  without  mixture  of  water,  which  I  am  forty  to  obferve  fo 
much  pradifed  in  Britain,  where  port,  a  wine  full  as  ftrong  as  the 
beft  Greek  wine,  the  Chian,  (as  i  am  informed  by  a  gentlemam  who 
lias  been  in  Greece,  and  often  drank  of  that  wine),  is  drunk  without 
any  mixture  of  water,  which  makes  it  very  inflammatory  and  in- 
toxicating :  Whereas  wine,  properly  mixed  with  water,  is  a  much 
better  drink  than  pure  water,  for  it  correds  the  coldnefs  and  cru- 
dity of  the  water,  and  i  am  perfuaded  invigorates  the  ftomach,  and 
makes  it  more  eafily  digeft  that  unnatural  diet,  as  I  call  it,  flefo. 
It  IS  therefore  true  what  Solomon  has  faid.  That  ivitie  nvithout  lua- 
ter  is  not  goodt  nor  water  without  ivine  j  but  both  together  make  an, 

excellent 

*  IfocratiSj  Panegyric. 


142  A  N  T  I  E  N  T  M  E  T  A  P  H  Y  S  I  C  S.     Book  11. 

€xcelltnt  druik*.  The  antient  Greeks  and  Romans,  as  they  did  not 
drink  wine  without  water,  fo  neither  did  they  drink  water  without 
wine,  if  they  could  get  wine ;  and  the  Roman  foldier,  who  could  not 
afford  wine,  rather  than  drink  pure  water,  mixed  vinegar  with  it, 
and  made  of  it  a  liquor  called  PofcO'  Virgil  therefore  has  very 
properly  defcribed  the  ufe  of  wine,  when,  fpeaking  of  Bacchus,  he 

has  faid, 

Poculaque  inventis  AchcloVa  mifcult  uvis. 

The  antient  Greeks  therefore  never  drank  it  pure,  even  in  the  heroic 
ages,  when  they  were  (o  much  bigger  and  ftronger  than  in  after 
times  :    The  Romans  alfo  mixed  it   with   water  ;   and  Horace  calls 

loudly  for  it, 

Quia  puer  ocyus 

Reftinguet  ardentis  Falerni 

Pocula  prsetereunte  lympha  ? Od.  ii.  Lib.  2. 

nor  do  we  hear  of  a  Vitellius,  a  Heliogabalus,  or  any  other  of  their 
moll  luxurious  Emperors,  drinking  pure  wine.  In  thofe  antient 
times,  therefore,  it  was  only  Scythians  or  other  barbarians  who 
drank  pure  wine  :  And  we  read  of  a  Scythianf,  who,  happening  to  be 
at  Sparta,  became  acquainted  with  one  of  the  Kings,  whom  he  taught 
to  drink  pure  wine ;  the  confequence  of  which  was,  that,  though  he 
was  of  the  race  of  Hercules,  the  ftrongefl:  race  of  men  then  known 
in  the  world,   he  died  raving  mad,  and  tearing  his  own  flefh. 

There  was  another  fermented  liquor  invented  in  Egypt,  whether 
by  Ofiris  or  by  whom  elfe  1  cannot  tell ;  but  it  is  well  known  to  us 
under  the  name  of  ak  or  beer^  a  liquor  made  of  barley,  which, 
before  it  is  fermented,  undergoes  a  procefs,  a  greater  difcovery, 
I  think,  than  even  fermentation  ;  I  mean  the  operation  of  malt- 
ing, by  which  the  grain  is  in  fome  degree  putrified ;  and  hence  it 

was 

•  The  lafi;  vcrfe  of  the  Apocrypha. 
f  Herodot.  lib.  6.  cap.  84. 


Chap.  IV.    A  N  T  I  E  N  T  M  E  T  A  P  H  Y  S  I  C  S.  143 

was  called  by  the  Romans,  Vtiium  ex  corruptis  frugibus.  It  was  the 
drink  of  the  common  people  in  Egypt,  where  wine  was  fcarce,  the 
ground  being  all  employed  in  producing  corn  to  maintain  fuch 
numbers  of  men.  And  thus  it  appears,  that  we  owe  to  the  Egyp- 
tians, not  only  corn  and  ivine^  but  alfo  ale^ 


CHAP. 


T44  A  NTIENT  METAPHYSICS.    Book  II. 


CHAP.        V. 

Of  the  invention  of  Clothes. — Thefe  not  nece/fary  in  the  Natural 
Life — The  firfl  Clothing  among  Men  ivere  Skins.  — The  country 
of  Egypt  maintaining  fo  many  Men.,  could  not  likeivife  maintain  fs 
many  Bea/Is  as  zvere  neceffary  for  furni/hing  Skins  to  Cloth  fo  ma- 
ny  People Therefore    Clothing    by    Linen    invented  ; — alfo    by 

Cloth  made  of  Wool ;— for  both  theje  Clothings.,  the  Arts  of  Spin- 
ning and  Weaving  ivere  neceffary. — The  ufe  of  Linen  ivent  from 
Egypt  to  fcnv  countries,  —  To  the  Egyptians  therefore  ive  onve  not 
only  our  Bread,  our  Wine,  and  our  Beer,  but  our  Cloths. — The 
Egyptians  muf  have  difcovered  the  ufe  of  Fire  for  the  praciice  of 
thcfe  Arts.  —  This  difcovery  not  made  by  all  nations  in  the  firfl  ages 
of  Civility. — Of  the  Art  of  Building  invented  in  Egypt : — Me- 
tallurgy neceffary  for  the  pra£life  of  that  Art.  — The  Egyptians 
made  the  fubjeB  of  their  art,  not  only  every  thing  on  the  earth, 
and  in  the  air  and  ivater,   but   "what   ivas   in  the  boivels  of  the 

earth. The  ivay  that   Men  ivere  fuppUed  nvith   inflruments  of 

peircinur  hard  fibflances,  before   the  invejition  of  Metals. — Divi- 
fion  of  Time  into  certain  portions  neceffary  in  Civilifed  Life. — The 
fir  J}  divifton  of  time  into  Days,  that  is,   the  interval  from  one  rifing 
of  the  Sun  to  his  rftng  again. — The  next  portion  of  Time,  ohferved 
bv  Men,   vj as  from  one  neiv  moon  to  another,   called  f  om  thence  a 
Month. — This  the  only  divfion  of  Time  knoivn  to  barbarous  nations. 
—The  Solar  Year  firjl  difcovered  in  Egypt.  —  That  year,  as  firfl  ufed 
by  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  very  irregular.  —  The  Romans  got  the 
irregularity  of  /heir  year  corrected  from  Egypt. — What  ivas  m'ant- 
ing  to  make  that  correction  pcrjetlly   accurate,  fupplied  by  Pope 
Gregory  X'll.—  0/  the  divijton  of  time  into  W:cks. — This  invent- 
ed 


Oiap.  V.      A  N  T  I  E  N  T  M  E  T  A  P  H  Y  S  I  C  S.  145 

ed  in   Egypt^   and  by   the  Egyptians  carried  to  India. — From  the 
Egyptians  it  came  to  Greece,  and  from  Greece  to  us. 


IN  this  chapter  I  will  continue  the  account,  I  began  in  the  laft,   of 
■^    thofe  arcs  of  life  invented  in  Egypt,  which  are  neceffary  for  maa 
in  the  civilifed   ftate.     Of  Agriculture,  the  great  art  of  that  kind, 
I  have  treated   in   the   laft   chapter  ;    of  the   produce    of  which, 
Corn,   I    have    fliown    that    the    Egyptians   taught    both    to    make 
food  and  drink.     I  am  now  to  fpeak  of  fome  other  arts,  invented 
in  Egypt,   vhich  are  likewife  neceflary  in  the  civililed  life.     And  I 
will  begin  with  Cloatbs,  which  are  not  neceffary  in  the  natural  ftate, 
as  it  is  now  well  known,  that  men  go  naked  in  the  coldeft  climates, 
fuch  as  that  of  an  ifland  a  degree  further  fouth  than  the  Straits  of 
Magellan,  where  Sir  Francis  Drake  faw  men  without  cloaths.  The  firft 
x;loathing  ufcdby  men  was  undoubtedly  the  {kins  of  beads;  and  in  that 
way  Adam  and  Eve  were  firft  cloathed.     But   the   Egyptians  con- 
trived to  make  cloathing  of  a  vegetable,  I  mean,  Flax,  of  which 
they  made  what  is  fo  much  celebrated  in  fcripture,   under  the  name 
of  the  fine  linen  of  Egypt  \   the  ufe  of  which  is  now  fo  prevalent  in 
Europe,   that   the   meaneft  of  the  people  not  only  wear  it  through 
the  day,  but  fleep  in  it  at  night.     But  to  the  Greeks  and  Romans  it 
was  not  at  all  known,  and  Auguftus  Csefar  had  not  a  linen  fhirt  upon 
his  back  ;   nor  in  antient  times  does  it  appear,  that  this  difcovery 
went  to  any  other  nation  except  the  Jews.     In  Egypt  it   was  ab- 
folutely  neceflary   that   they  fliould  have  fuch  a  cloathing,  as  the 
country,  maintaining  fo  many  men,  could   not  at   the   fame  time 
fupport  fo   many  beafts  as  were  neceflary  for  cloathing  the  tenth 
part  of  the  people.     The  Egyptians  at  the  fame  time  knew  alfo 
the  ufe  of  wool   for  cloathing,  and  ufed  woollen  cloth  as  well  as 
linen  :    But  for   making  both  it  was  neceflary  that  they  (hould  in- 
Tent  the  art  of  fpinning  and  weaving.     To  them  therefore  we  owe 
our  Cloathing,  as  well  as  our  Bread,   our  Wine  and  Beer. 

Vol.  IV.  T  As 


146  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.     Book  II. 

As  Egypt  was  the  firft  civilized  country,  I  think  it  is  certain  that 
the  Egyptians  muft  have  firft  difcovered  the  ufe  of  fire^  without 
which  none  of  the  arts  of  Vulcan  or  Minerva  could  have  been  prac- 
tifed.  That  it  was  not  known  to  all  nations,  even  in  the  firft  ages 
of  civilization,  and  after  they  had  learned  the  ufe  of  fpeech,  is  evi- 
dent from  the  example  of  the  men  of  the  Ladrone  Iflands,  who 
had  not  the  ufe  of  it  when  they  were  firft  difcovered  by  the  Euro- 
peans :  And  the  Wild  Girl,  1  faw  in  France,  told  me  that  they  had 
no  ufe  of  it  in  her  country*.  But  whether  the  antient  Egyptians  had 
learned  to  ftrike  fire  out  of  the  veins  of  flint,  to  ufe  an  expreffion 
of  Virgil,  which  the  Ghinefe  have  not  learned  at  this  day,  does  not 
appear. 

Not  only  were  bread,  and  wine,  and  beer,  which  are  ufed  in  the 
civilized  life,  and  alfo  cloaths,  invented  by  the  Egyptians,  but 
likewlfe  houfes  and  other  buildings  of  ftone,  of  which  won- 
derful monuments  are  ftill  to  be  feen  in  Egypt.  Before  the 
invention  of  houfes,  men  lodged  in  caves,  or  dug  for  themfelves 
habitations  in  rocks  t>  fuch  as  thofe  to  be  feen  at  this  day  in 
fome  parts  of  the  world,  particularly  in  the  Ifland  of  EJephan- 
lis  off  the  coaft  of  Bombay  %.  But  before  the  Egyptians  could  raife 
buildings  of  ftone,  they  muft  have  difcovered,  as  1  have  faid,  the  ufe 
oi  fre,  and  learned  the  pradlice  of  Metallurgy.  So  that,  not  con- 
tent with  converting  to  their  ufe  every  thing  that  the  land,  the  wa- 
ter, and  air  furniflied,  they  dug  into  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  aad 
from   thence^  befides   many  other   things,  they  brought  metals,  of 

which, 

•  Of  the  ufe  of  fire  being  unknown  to  feveral  nations,  fee  p.  38.  of  vol.  III.  of  this, 
work. 

t  See  p.  44   of  this  vol. 

\  See  further  what  I  have  faid  on  this  fubjefV,  in  vol.  III.  of  this  work,  p.  83. 
v?here  I  have  acknowledged,  that  what  I  have  learned  concerning  that  ifland,  I  owe  to 
Dr  Lind  now  of  Windfor,  who  (howed  mc  a  plan  of  the  extraordinary  excavations 
there. 


eiiap.  V.      ANTIENTMETAPHYSICS.  147 

which,  by  a  wonderful  application  of  the  element  of  fire,  they  made 
a  variety  of  things  both  of  ornament  and  ufe.  Before  this  difco- 
very,  men,  for  the  purpofe  of  cutting  and  piercing,  ufed  the  hardeft 
flones  they  could  find,  fuch  as  flints ;  and  the  barbarous  nations  at 
this  day  head  their  arrows  with  flints,  which  was  the  practice  in 
Scotland  in  antient  times  as  well  as  in  other  countries ;  and  I  have 
myfelf  a  flint  head  of  an  arrow,  found  in  the  Pentland  Hills  near 
Edinburgh. 

For  carrying  on  the  bufinefs  of  civil  life,  and  particularly  of  ag« 
riculture,  the  obfervance  of  times  and  feafons  Is  neceflTary,  and  for 
that  purpofe  the  divifion  of  time  into  certain  portions.  The  mofl: 
obvious  divifion,  and  no  doubt  the  firft  that  was  made  by  men,  is 
into  dajs  ;  that  is  the  interval  of  time  from  the  rifing  of  the  fun 
in  one  day,  to  his  rifing  again  the  next  day  ;  which  we  divide  into 
twenty- four  parts  called  hours.  But  a  greater  divifion  of  time  was 
neceflary  for  the  bufinefs  of  life :  And  therefore  the  next  divifion  of 
it,  made  by  man,  was  by  the  motions  of  the  moon,  containing 
that  fpace  of  time  betwixt  the  one  new  moon  and  the  other  ; 
which  we  call  a  t?ionih :  And  the  barbarous  nations  appear  to 
have  gone  no  farther,  than  to  divide  their  time  by  months 
and  by  feafons;  for  none  of  them,  unlefs  they  have  learned  it 
from  us,  know  that  divifion  of  time  we  call  a  year.  This  fo  impor- 
tant divifion,  without  which  we  could  have  had  no  chronology  of 
any  extent  of  time,  was  firfl:  invented  by  the  Egyptians,  as  Hero- 
dotus has  told  us  *.  They  difcovered  that  the  courfe  of  the  fun  round 
the  eaith,  or,  what  is  the  fame  thing,  of  the  earth  round  the  fun,  is 
performed  in  365  days  and  6  hours,  which  hours  every  fourth  year 
make  a  day  more,  that  was  added  to  that  year;  And  here  we  are  to 
obferve,  that  though  the  Egyptians  did  not  lay  afide  the  divifion  of 
time  into  months,  it  was  act  lunar  months,  but  months  fuch  as   we 

T  2  ufe, 

*  Lib.  2.  chap.  4. 


148  ANTIENT   METAPHYSICS.     Book  If. 

ufe,  each  of  a  certain  number  of  days  :  Whereas  the  Greeks,  dividing 
the  year  into  twelve  lunar  months  of  about   29  days   each,  were 
obliged,  in  order  to  adjuft  their  year  to  the  motions   of  the   fun,  to 
intercallate  a  month  every  third  year  *.     And  among   the   Romans, 
Niima  for  the  fame  reafon  intercallated  a  month   of  22   days  every 
two  years  f.     But  notwithftanding  this  reformation  made  by  Numa» 
the  Roman  callendar  went  into  fuch  diforder,  that  Julius  Caefar,  in 
order  to  redify  it,  was  obliged  to  intercallate,  firft  23  days,  and  then  Sj^ 
making  altogether  an  intercallation  of  no  lefs  than  go  days  %  ;  and 
having  thus  adjufted  the  year  to  the  courfe  of  the  fun,  in   order  to 
prevent  its  going  into  diforder  again,  he  adopted  the  Egyptian  year 
as  above  defcribed.     This  reformation  of  the  Roman  callendar,  Ju- 
lius made  by  the  diredions  of  Sofigenes,  an   Egyptian  aftronomer, 
who  cam.e  from  Alexandria  ;  and  it  is  this  year  which  is  now  ufed 
all  over  Europe,  with  a  fmall  alteration  made  in  it,  in  the  i6th  cen- 
tury, by  Pope  Gregory  XIII.      What  made  this  alteration  neceffary 
was,  that  the  6  hours  added,  as  faid  is,  to  the  365  days,  exceeded  the 
folar  year  by  1 1  minutes.   This  excefs,  in  the  courfe  of  fo  many  cen- 
turies, made  a  difconformity  betwixt  the  folar  and  civil  year,  which 
was  redified  by  that  Pope  ;  and  it  is  faid,   that  Julius   Csefar,   if  he 
had  lived  longer,  would  have  made  that  amendment  himfelf,  by  the 
diredion,   no  doubt,   of  the  fame  Sofigines.     So  that  the  Egyptians 
knew  the  true  folar  year  to  a  minute  ;  and  thus  it  appears,   that  to 
them    we   owe,  among  many   other  thing?,  the  difcovery  of  the 
folar  year,  and   the   divifion   of  it  into   months,   which  are  adapt- 
ed to  the  feafons  of  the  year;  fo  that  the  fame   months  are  always 
vernal,  fummer,  autumnal,  and  winter  months. 

The  Egyptians  had  another  divifion  of  time,  unknown  to  the 

Greeks 

*  Herodotus,  uM /upra, 
t  Gebelin,  vol.  IV.  p.  153. 
X  Ibid.  p.  163. 


Chap.  V.      ANTIENTMET  A  PHYSICS.  149 

Greeks  and  Romans  till  later  times :  I  mean  the  divifion  into  weeks; 
•which  was  carried  by  Ofiris  into  India,  whereit  is  at  this  day  in  ufe; 
and,  what  is  very  remarkable,  the  feven  days  of  the  week  are  in  India 
not  only  confecrated  to  the  feven  planets,  but  each  day  to  the  fame 
planet  as  among  us.  But  this  divifion  of  time  was  for  many  ages 
only  known  to  ihe  Egyptians,  Jews,  and  Indians  ;  but  not  to  the 
Greeks  till  latter  times,  as  Dion  Caflius  informs  us ;  and  from  them 
we  got  it.  I  will  only  add  further  upon  this  fubje£l,  that  this  fo 
lingular  divifion  of  time,  which  was  not  founded  in  the  neceffities 
of  life,  like  the  other  divifions  that  I  have  mentioned,  but  took  its 
rife  from  the  religion  of  the  Egyptians,  who,  as  Herodotus  tells  us, 
confecrated  every  day  to  fome  deity  or  another,  being  ufed  in  In- 
dia, is  a  proof  I  think  demonftrativej  if  there  were  no  other,  that 
the  Egyptians  were  in  India.  But  of  this,  I  fhall  fay  a  great  deal 
more  in  the  fequel  of  this  work. 


CHAP. 


ICO 


ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.     Book  IL 


CHAP.        VI. 

Of  Religion,  and  the  iiecejfity  of  it  to  conjlitute  and  carry  on  a  good 
polity. — The  opinion  of  Mr  David  Hume  upon  this  fitbjeSl^  'very 
different  from  that  of  Cicero. — Religion  not  knoivn  to  Man  in  his 
natural  Jlate, — nor  in  the  firjl  age  of  civility  —  This  proved,  firfi 
by  Reafon,  and  then  by  Fa£ts, — and  fir  ft  as  to  Realon. — //  fhoivs 
that  Man  in  the  natural  fate  can  have  no  ideas  at  all ;  and,  in  the 
beginning  of  civility,  only  ideas  oj  corporeal  fubftajices,  —  but  no  ideas 
of  inviftble  powers  a^mg  upon  body,  ivitbout  -which  there  can  be 
no  idea  of  God. — This  idea  only  to  be  acquired  in  procefs  of  time 
ajter  the  invention  of  different   arts. — Secondly  as   to   Fa<9:s  ;   it  is 

■  proved  by  the  example  of  the  Orang  Outang, — Peter  the  Wild  Boy^ 
— the  Wild  Girl  in  France, — the  people  of  the  Peleiv  Iflands, — - 
thofe  of  New  Zealand — of  Neiv  Holland,  and  particularly  of  Bo- 
tany Bay.  —  Obje^ion  anftvered,  from  the  example  of  the  Indians 
of  North  America,  who  have  got  the  notion  of  a  great  fpirit. — 
This  they  muff  have  got  from  a  people  further  advanced  in  arts 
and  civility,  -who  are  proved  hy  monuments  fill  exifiing  to  have 
been  once  in  that  country. — That  the  idea  of  a  God,  is  not  an  in- 
nate idea; — no  innate  ideas  of  any  kind. 

IN  ihe  preceding  chapter  I  have  treated  of  arts,  which  are  abfo- 
!utely  neceffary,  or  of  great  conveniency  in  the  civilifed  life : 
And  I  am  next  to  fpeak  of  two  things,  which  are  of  abfolute  ne- 
ceflity  for  conflituting  and  carrying  on  a  regular  polity.  The  two 
things  I  n^ean  are  Religion  and  Gcveriiment ;  and  fiiftas  to  Religion. 
"  The  fear  of  God,"   as  our  fcripture  tells  us,  "  is  the  beginning 

"  of 


Chap.  Vr.     A  N  T  I  E  N  T   METAPHYSICS.  151 

*'  of  vvifdom."  Without  that  fear,  I  hold,  there  is  no  real  wifdom 
or  found  underftanding  among  men  ;  and,  therefore,  that,  without 
religion,  there  never  was  nor  ever  will  be  formed,  or  carried  on,  any 
polity  in  the  lead  degree  perfect.  —  So  far  I  differ  in  opinion  from 
our  philofopher  Mr  David  Hume,  who  has  thought  proper  to  in- 
form the  public,  that  the  lefs  religion  there  is  in  any  country,  fo 
much  the  better  for  that  country  *.  Cicero  was  fo  much  of  a  dif- 
ferent opinion,  that  he  thought  the  chief  praife  he  could  beftow  up- 
on his  countrymen,  was,  that,  however  they  might  be  excelled  by 
other  nations  in  other  things  which  he  names,  fed  pletate  ac  religi' 
one,  atque  hac  una  fapientia,  quod  Deorum  immorialium  numine  om.' 
nia  regi  gubernariqiie  perfpeximus^  omnes  gentes  nalionefque  Juperavl' 
mus  f .  And  I  am  perfuaded  it  was  to  their  religion  chiefly  that  they 
owed  the  conqueft  of  the  world  :  For  it  was  their  religion,  and  par- 
ticularly their  moll  religious  regard  to  an  oath,  which  made  thera. 
fo  good  citizens  and  foldiers  if. 

I  am,  however,  of  opinion,  that  religion  was  not  known  to  man 
in  his  natural  ftate,  nor  even  in  the  firft  ages  of  civility,  but  was 
difcovered  by  him,  like  other  things,  in  procefs  of  time,  as  he  im- 
proved in  underftanding.  And  this  is  a  truth  not  only  proved  by 
fa£t  and  obfervation,  as  I  fhall  afterwards  ftiow,  but  I  think  is  evi- 
dent from  theory,  and  may  be  demonftrated  in  this  manner. 

Men  in  the  mere  natural  ftate  have  no  ideas  at  all,  but  only  the 
capacity  of  forming  them.  They  have  therefore  only  the  perceptions 
of  fenfe.  From  thefe  perceptions,  when  they  are  a  little  advanced  in 
civility  and  arts,  they  form,  by  abftracflion  and  generallifation,  ideas  in 
the  manner  I  have  elfewhere  ihown  §.    But  their  firft  ideas  were  only 

of 
•  See  ■vol.  il.  of  this  woek,  p.  301.;  and  fee  further  concerning  the  philofophy  of 
Mr  Hume,  -vol.  I.  p.  309. 

f  Oratio,  dc  Harufp'xcum  refponfts. 

\  See  what  I  have  further  faid  on  this  fubjc(f\,  in  vol.  V.  of  Origin  of  Language,  p.  a. 

5  Page  65.  and  66.  of  this  voluLrie 


152  A  N  T  I  E  N  T  M  E  T  A  P  H  Y  S  I  C  S.    Book  IT. 

of  corporeal  fubftances,  and  of  their  operations  upon  one  another. 
In  this  wav,  they  difcovered  a  difference  of  bodies,  and  that  one  body 
ads  upon  another.  But  it  is  impofiible  that  at  firft  they  can  have 
any  idea  of  an  inviiible  and  immaterial  principle  ading  upon  body, 
and  in  that  way  conducting  the  operations  of  nature,  and  influenc- 
ing the  affairs  of  human  life.  Now,  a  man  who  has  no  idea  of  this 
kind,  can  have  no  religion,  which  can  only  come  in  procefs  of  time, 
by  obferving  that  there  are  invifible  powers  infinitely  fuperior  to 
any  power  that  he  can  exert,  by  which  all  the  wonderful  phseno- 
mena  of  nature  are  produced.  It  may  be  faid  that  man,  by  confidering 
himfelf  and  his  own  powers  of  adion,  might  difcuver  that  there  was 
an  invifible  power  within  himfelf,  which  moved  him  to  adion.  But  a 
favage  cannot  pradife  that  precept  of  the  wife  man  in  Greece,  Knoiv 
thyfelf^  which  was  infcribed  on  the  frontifpiece  of  the  temple  at 
Delphi,  and  was  underftood  to  be  an  addrefs  by  the  God  to  thofe 
who  came  to  vifit  his  temple*.  Some  I  am  affraid,  even  of  our 
modern  philofophers,  know  fo  little  of  themfelves,  as  not  to  know 
that  the  principle,  which  moves  their  bodies,  is  an  immaterial  prin- 
ciple t-  Religion  therefore  muft  have  come  among  men  only  in 
procefs  of  time,  after  they  had  lived  together  for  a  confiderable 
time  in  a  well  regulated  fociety,  and  had  not  only  invented  fome  of 
the  neceflary  arts  of  life,  but  had  learned  to  reafon  and  to  fpecu- 
late  upon  caufes  and  effeds.  And  indeed,  to  me  it  is  inconceivable, 
how  a  creature  only  capable  of  intelled,  which  is  the  cafe  of  man 
in  his  natural  ftate,  (liould  immediately  upon  acquiring  the  ufe  of 
it  without  the  exercife  of  it  for  fome  confiderable  time  upon  dif- 
ferent fubjcds,  form  an  idea  of  the  Supreme  Intelligence,  or  of  in- 
teUi^'ences  fuperior  to  his  ovi'n,  or  even  of  his  own. 

This 

•  See  p.  8.  of  this  vol.     See  alfo  Plutarch  in  his  Treatlfe  upon  the  Infcription  of 
EI.  on  the  entry  to  the  temple  at  Delphi, 
f  Vol.  V.  of  Origin  of  Language,  p.  422.  and  423. 


Chap.  VI.     AN  TIENT  METAPHYSICS.  153 

This  theory  of  mine  is  fupported  by  fads :  The  Orang  Outang 
has  certainly  no  religion  ;  and  if  the  reader  be  not  yet  convinced 
of  his  being  a  man,  Peter  the  Wild  Boy,  of  whofe  humanity  there 
never  was  any  doubt,  had  no  idea  of  a  God  *,  though  he  was  tam- 
ed and  domefticated,  and  lived  very  quietly  in  a  family,  where  I 
faw  him,  and  had  learned  a  little  language.  Him,  however,  as 
well  as  the  Orang  Outang,  i  confider  in  the  natural  (tate.  The 
Savage  Girl,  whom  I  faw  in  France,  came  from  a  country  where 
thf  V  not  only  had  the  ufe  of  language,  but  prattiled  fome  of  the 
arts  of  life,  particularly  fiiliing,  in  the  natural  way  indeed,  I  mean  by 
their  hands,  but  fo  that  they  lived  by  it.  but,  from  the  converfations 
I  had  with  her,  1  could  not  learn  that  they  had  the  leaft  idea  of  re- 
lig  on.  And  the  people  of  the  Pelew  ifiands,  though  much  farther 
advanced  in  the  arts  of  life,  have  none  neither,  as  far  as  we  could 
dilcover  dunng  the  i;^  weeks  we  were  among  them  ;  though,  dur- 
ing that  time,  we  appear  to  have  informed  ourlelves  of  their  govern- 
ment, and  the  arts  of  war  and  navigation  which  they  pradife  ;  and 
as  there  is  no  religion  in  any  nation,  without  religious  ceremonies 
and  forms  of  worfhip,  thefe  we  muft  have  alfo  obferved,if  there  had 
been  any  fuch  among  them.  The  people  of  New  Zealand  appear 
to  be  ftill  farther  advanced  in  the  arts  of  life  ;  for  they  have  not 
only  the  ufe  of  language,  but  are  orators  and  public  fpeakers  t,  and 
are  a  generous  noble-minded  people,  as  well  as  the  Pelew  men  ;  yet 
neither  have  we  difcovered  any  religion  among  them.  The  Indian  na- 
tions of  North  America  have  notions  of  religion,  which  they  carry  fo 
far  as  to  acknowledge  a  Great  Spirit,  in  whofe  name  they  make  their 
treaties  of  peace.  But,  in  the  firft  place,  I  fay,  thofe  nations  are 
much  farther  advanced  in  the  arts  of  civil  life  than  any  of  the  peo- 
ple above-mentioned;  and,  fecojid/j,  I  fay,  that  even  this  further 
progrefs  would  not  have  carried  them  on  to  the  conception  of  a 
Supreme   Being,   if  they  had   not   learned   it   from  a  people  much 

Vol.  IV.  U  farther 

*  See  p   371.  of  vol.  III.  of  this  work. 

I  See  p.  4.  of  vol.  VI.  of  Origin  of  Language, 


154  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.     Book  11. 

farther  advanced  in  arts  and  fclences,  who  appear  once  to  have  in- 
habited the  country  of  North  America.  Of  fuch  a  people,  memo- 
rials have  been  obferved  by  travellers  in  that  country,  particularly 
by  Adair,  who  was  40  years  there,  trading  with  the  different 
nations  of  North  America,  and  appears  to  me  to  be  a  man  of 
veracity  and  accurate  obfervation.  He  fays,  in  his  hiftory  of 
the  American  Indians  *,  that,  in  certain  parts  of  North  America, 
there  are  to  be  feen  plates  of  copper  and  of  brafs,  to  the  number  of 
feven,  five  of  copper  and  two  of  brafs ;  and  particularly  of  the 
brafs,  he  fays,  that  they  are  round  in  their  fhape  like  a  medal,  and 
have  upon  them  two  ftars  and  an  alphabetical  charafler,  at  leaft  it 
fo  appears,  refembling  the  charadler  by  which  we  mark  the  M 
diphthong  in  Latin.  This  Author  likewife  fpeaks  f  -of  the  re- 
mains of  regular  encampments  to  be  feen  in  this  country  :  And 
the  fame  was  obferved  by  Carver,  when  he  was  there,  as  he  has 
related  in  his  travels  through  the  interior  parts  of  North  America  $. 

Thus  1  have  proved  both  a  priori  by  the  reafon  of  the  thing, 
and  a  pofteriori  by  fads,  that  religion  does  not  belong  to  man  in 
his  natural  ftate,  and  not  even  in  the  firft  ages  of  civility,  but  that 
he  acquires  it,  as  he  does  arts  and  fciences,  by  the  cultivation  of  his 
intelledual  faculties.  There  are  fome,  I  know,  who  think  that  the 
idea  of  a  God,  is  an  innate  idea  in  man.  But  fuch  men  do  not 
know,  any  more  than  Mr  Locke  and  Mr  David  Hume,  what  ideas 
are,  but  confound  them  with  fenfations  ;  from  w'ich,  no  doubt, 
our  ideas  are  formed  in  the  manner  I  have  elfewhere  defcribed, 
(for  in  this  ftate  of  our  exiftence,  all  our  knowledge  arifes  from  our 
fenfes) ;  but  they  are  quite  different  from  our  fenfations,  as  diffe- 
rent as  intelled  is  from  fenfe,  generals  from  particulars,  and  man 
from  brute. 

CHAP, 

*  Adair,  p.  178. 
t  Ibid.  377. 
\  Carver,  p.  ^6, 


.Chap.  VI.     ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  155 


CHAP.       vir. 

Impoffihle  that  the  Egyptians,  tvho  had  invented  fj  many  arts  and 
Sciences^  Jl^onld  not  have  been  Religious. — They  ivere  the  moji  Re- 
ligious of  all  Nations.  Religion  here  confide  red  as  a  Political  In- 
fiitution^  ivhich  produced  no  had  effecis  among  the  Egyptians,  as  it 
has  done  in  many  other  Nations. — if  it  produced  no  bad  effefls^ 
ivhere  there  ivas  Jo  much  cf  it  as  in  Egypt,  it  mufl  have  produced 
good  efjeSis. — -Difference  betivixt  the  Religion  of  Egypt  and  that  of 
other  Countries.  — In  other  countries  the  Gods  only  predicted  events ; 
in  Egypt  they  ivere  Kings,  and  Governed. — Of  the  nature  of  the 
Egyptian  Gods. — They  ivere  embodied,  ivere  born,  and  died ;  and 
ivere  of  different  Characters. — They  ivere  of  that  clafs  of  Beings  cal- 
led Daemons. — This  opinion  fupported  by  the  authority  of  Plutarch^ 
Plato,  and  other  .Authors  quoted  by  him. — Proved  from  theory 
thatfuch  Beings  as  Demons  mufi  exifl,  othenvife  there  ivould  be  a 
void  in  the  univerfe,  ivhich  cannot  be  fuppofed  to  be  info  perfect  a 
Syfleni. — Jgreeable  to  the  ivifdom  and  goodnefs  of  God,  that  fiich 
Beings  fJooutd  be  fent  among  men,  to  afftfl  them  to  recover  from  their 
fallen  State,  by  teaching  them  Arts  and  Sciences. — This  ivas  done 
by  the  Dcemons  in  Egypt. — This  happened  in  other  countries  as 
ivell  as  in  Egypt,  particularly  in  China  and  in  Peru. — hi  Peru  there 
ivas  an  Ofiris  and  an  Ifis,  under  the  name  of  Manco  Capuc  and  his 
Sijler-ivife. — Authorities  from  Scripture  to  prove  the  exifence  of 
Dcemons. — They  may  be  fuppofed  to  have  been  the  Beings  called,  in 
Scripture,  Angels,  ivho  had  the  fuperintendency  of  hutfiatt  affairs, 
— Each  Nation  had  its  Angel. — A  bad  tranflation  of  a  text  on  this 
fubjcfl  in  our  Bible. — The  Sons  of  God,  ivho,  ive  are  told,  copulat- 
ed with  the  Daughters  of  Men,mujl  have  been  Demons. — This  in- 

U  2  terprctation 


j^6  ANTIE  NT  METAPHYSICS.       Book  11. 

terpretation  of  the  text  Jupported  by  the  authority  of  the  Fathers 
of  the  Church. — //  loas  natural  that  tbofe  Damons  in  Egypt  /}jould 
be  tue  objecis  of  Popular  Worjhip  there  ; — but  the  Learned  Egyp- 
tians made  a  dijlinciion  betwixt  the  Popular  Religion  and  the  Re- 
ligion of  Philojophers.— Proof  of  this  from  their  knowing  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Trinity. — A  great  deal  of  Rites ^  Ceremonies,  and  Pomp 
in  the  Popular  Religion  of  Egypt.— 'I he  Jame  in  the  Religions  of 
Greece  and  Rome  , — aljo  in  the  Religion  of  the  Jeivs. — Pi  oof  of 
this  from  Scripture. — Mufic  a  confidernhle  part  of  the  Religion  of 
all  Antient  Nations  ; — very  much  attended  to  by  the  Egyptians. — 
The  Antient  Mufic  among  them  carefully  prefer  ved — Of  the  Ora- 
cles in  Egypt. — By  them  only  the  Egyptians  divined. — From  them 
Oracles  came  to  Greece,  but  not  to  the  Romansj  ivho  divined  only 
by  the  Flight  of  Birds  and  Entrails  of  Beajls.  —  Of  the  Egyptian 
Oracles. — Thtfe  iv ere  given  by  the  Damons  who  had  Reigned  over 
ihcm ; — difference  in  that  refpect  betwixt  the  Oracles  of  Egypt  a7id  of 
Greece.,  as  well  as  betwixt  the  Gods  of  Egypt  and  of  Greece. — Of  the 
deceit  and  impoflure  of  the  Greek  Oracles.  — Of  the  Sacred  Animals 
among  the  Egyptians. — Thefe  were  types  of  their  Divinities. — 
Better  reprefentations  of  Divinity  than  any  thing  inanimate,  fuch 
as  Brafs  or  Stone. — By  means  of  thefe  Sacred  Animals,  the  Egyp' 
tians  lived  ivith  their  Gods,  more  than  any  other  People ; — and 
ivere  the  mofl  Religious  of  all  People  ; — and  alfo  the  Happiejl.—' 
Obfervations  upon  the  difference  betwixt  the  Religion  of  the  Phi- 
lofopher  and  the  Vulgar. — A  Religion  of  contemplation,  fuch  as  that 
sf  the  Philojopher,  not  fit  for  an  uninflrucled  Mind. 

HAVING  fhown  in  the  preceding  chapter,  that  men  mufl:  noE 
only  have  been  civilifed,  but  have  made  fome  progrefs  in 
aits  and  fcienccs  before  they  could  be  religious,  in  this  chapter  I 
propole  to  inquire  concerning  the  religion  of  Egypt. 

That 


Chap.  VII.     A  N  T  I  E  N  T  M  E  T  A  P  H  Y  S  I  C  S.  i^y 

That  men,  who  had  conftituted  fo  perfe£l  a  polity,  as  I  fliall  fliow 
the  Egyptian  was,  who  had  alfo  invented  thofe  arts  which  I  have 
Ihown  the  Egyptians  invented,  and  other  arts  and  likewife  fciences, 
of  vi'hich  1  fhall  fpeak  in  the  fequel,  fliould  not  have  difcovered,  that 
there  were,  in  this  univerfe,  beings  of  power  and  of  wifdora  infinite- 
ly fuperior  to  man,  is  a  thing  very  impoffible,  and  indeed,  in  my 
apprehenfion,  abfolutely  incredible.  But  the  matter  does  not  reft 
Upon  theory  or  argument :  For  it  is  a  fadl  uncontravertible,  that 
they  were  a  moft  religious  nation,  I  believe  as  religious  a  nation  as 
ever  exifted  :    Herodotus  fays,  the  moft  religious  ot  all  nations  *. 

Whether  their  religion  was  what  may  be  called  a  true  religion,  is 
not  the  bufinefs  of  this  part  of  my  work  to  inquire  ;  for  I  here 
confider  religion  only  as  a  political  inftitution  ;  and  I  inquire,  ^r/?, 
Whether  religion  among  the  Egyptians  produced  fuch  bad  confe- 
quences,  as  it  is  known  to  have  produced  among  other  nations,  fuch 
as  that  abomination  of  human  facrifices,  which  we  know  were  prac- 
tifed  in  other  nations,  particularly  among  the  Carthaginians  f,  like- 
wife  among  the  Greeks,  the  Cananires,  and  even  the  Jews.  But  a- 
mong  the  Egyptians,  fuch  an  abomination  was  abhored,  and  was  never 
pradifed,  as  Herodotus  has  told  us  %,  In  other  nations  religion  has 
produced,  particularly  in  modern  times,  great  diforders  in  the  ftate, 
civil  wars,  perfecutions,  and  maffacres.  But  we  hear  of  no  fuch  ef- 
feds  of  religion  in  Egypt.  Secondly^  If  religion,  fo  much  as  there 
■was  in  Egypt,  produces  no  bad  effeds,  it  muft  necefLrily  produce 
fome  good  ;  for  it  is  impoffible  that  it  can  be  a  thing  indifferent. 
I  therefore  hold  it  to  be  certain,  that  the  piety  of  the  Egyptian& 
muft  have  had  a  great  effed  upon  their  morals,  and  made  them  bet- 
ter citizens  and  fubjeds  than  otherwife  they  would  have  been  ;, 

for 

*  Lib.  2.  cap.  37. 

•}-  Diodjru--.  lib.  20.  cap.  2^,  where  he  tells  us,  that  the  Carthaginians,  upon  one 
occaGon,  facrificed  500  children,  of  their  nobleft  families,  to  appeafe  the  wrath  of  Saturn. 
%  Lib=  2.  cap.  no. 


158  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.     Book  11. 

for  they  believed,  as   much   as  any  people  ever  did,   in  a  prefent 
diet)' ;  and  may  be  faid  to  have  lived  with  their  Gods. 

In  one  refped  the  Egyptian  religion  differed  from  any  other  that 
we  read  of.  In  other  countries  their  Gods  predided  events,  and  in 
that  way  governed  the  councils  of  the  kings  and  rulers:  But  in 
Egypt  their  Gods,  in  very  aniient  times,  were  theii  kings :  And 
there  were  three  races  of  them,  as  Herodotus  tells  us  ;  the  firft, 
confifting  of  eight  Gods  ;  the  fecond,  of  twelve  ;  and  the  third,  and 
laft,  of  three  ;  and  after  them  came  their  human  Kings,  of  whom 
the  fiift  was  Menes.  And  this  leads  to  a  curious  inquiry,  what 
kind  of  beings  thefe  God-kings,  as  they  called  them,  were. 

And,  in  \.\-\e  frjl  place,  it  is  certain,  that  they  had  bodies,  fuch  as 
we  have,  and  were  not  immortal,  but  died  as  we  do,  though  their 
life  was  much  longer.  Secondly^  As  they  died,  fo  they  were  born, 
and  were  produced  in  the  ordinary  way  by  generation  ;  but  they 
mixed  in  that  way  only  with  one  another  :  From  the  firft  race 
therefore  proceeded  the  fecond  ;  and  from  the  fecond  the  third,  in 
the  common  way  of  generation.  They  did  not  therefore  mix  with 
the  women  of  the  country,  and  beget  Heroes,  as  the  Greek  Gods 
did;  for  Heroes  were  not  known  among  the  Egyptians;  and  Herodo- 
tus tells  us,  that  they  did  not  live  wiih  the  men  of  the  country,  but 
among  themfelves.  Thirdly^  Though  they  were  neither  Gods  nor 
immortal,  they  were  much  fuperior  to  men  in  council  and  intelli- 
p-ence.  And,  IcjUy,  they  were  not  all  of  them  good  and  virtu- 
(His  beings,  but  one  of  them  was  a  murderer  and  a  villain,  he 
who  was  called  Typhon. 

To  what  clafs  of  beings  then  fliall  we  fay  they  belonged,  and 
v\hai  name  {liall  we  give  them?  And  I  think  Plutarch  has  very 
rrcrcrly  defcribed  and  named  them,  when  he  fays,  that   they  were 

not 


Chap.  VII.     ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  159 

not  Gods,  but  Dtemons^  that  is,  beings  Intermediate  betwixt  Gods 
and  men.  This  opinion  he  gives  after  informing  us,  that  there 
were  fome,  who  thought  that  they  were  mere  men,  who  afTum- 
ed  divine  honours,  and  were  confidered  as  Gods  by  the  Egyp- 
tians, on  account  of  the  many  benefits  they  had  conferred  on  them 
by  the  difcovery  of  fo  many  arts.  His  own  opinion  he  fupports  by 
the  authority  of  Plato,  Pythagoras  *,  Xenocrates,  and  Chryfippus, 
who,  in  conformity  with  the  antient  theologifts,  maintained  that 
fuch  beings  exifted,  much  fuperior  to  man,  and  participated,  in  fome 
degree,  of  the  divine  nature,  but  not  pure  and  unnixed.  Plato,  he 
tells  us,  fays,  that  they  were  placed  in  the  middle  betwixt  Gods 
and  men,  and  kept  up  a  communication  betwixt  thefe  two,  carry- 
ing to  the  Gods  the  prayers  and  fupplications  of  men,  and  bringing 
from  the  Gods,  to  men,  predictions  of  future  events,  and  gifts  of 
good  things.  And  he  quotes  Empedocles,  the  philofopher,  who 
fays,  that  fome  of  thofe  Daemons  were  wicked,  and  committed 
crimes,  which  they  expiated  by  certain  punifhments  ;  and  then 
they  recovered  the  rank  they  had  loft  f.  After  this,  Plutarch  gives 
us  the  opinions  of  thofe  philofophers,  who  allegorifed  the  Egyptian 
divinities,  fuch  as  Ifis  and  Ofiris,  and  interpreted  them  to  denote 
parts  and  powers  of  nature  [f.  But  the  allegories  of  thofe  authors 
he  rejeds,  and  gives  what  he  himfelf  thinks  a  better  allegory  §  j 
for  allegorifmg  had  come  much  into  fafhion  at  the  time  that  P'u- 
tarch  wrote  ;  fo  that  both  the  Egyptian  and  Greek  theology  were 

allegorifed  j 

*  That  It  was  the  opinion  of  Pythagoras,  that  there  was  a  clafs  of  beings  that  dwelt 
on  earth,  L  ut  were  of  a  nature  luperior  to  man,  is  evident  from  the  aurea  carmbia  of 
Pythagoras,  in  which  thay  are  called,  ^uifiom  xantjiionoi,  (v.  2.)  and  the  commentsny  oS 
Ilierodes  upon  that  verfc,  p.  38.  edit.  Needham. 

f  Plutarch,  de  Ificle  et  0/tridef  p.  360.  and  361   of  the  Paris  edition,  toI.  II. 

%  Ibid.  p.  363. 

S  Ibid.  p.  373. 


i5o  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.     Book  II. 

allegorlfed  ;  and  in  later  times  even  hiftorical  fads ;  and  there  Is  a 
late  French  writer  who  has  made  Romulus,  the  firft  King  of  Rome, 
to  be  a  fymbol  of  the  fun.  But  that  thofe  Dsmon  Kings  of  Egypt 
were  real  perfonages  as  much  as  Menes,  their  firft  human  King, 
neither  Herodotus  nor  Diodorus  Siculus  appear  to  have  the  leaft 
doubt;  nor  Piutarch  hiraielf,  as  he  has  told  us  in  exprefs  terms, 
that  they  were  DrEmons,  and  held  a  middle  place  betwixt  Gods  and 
men.  So  that  I  hold  the  reign  of  the  Go:is  in  Egypt  to  be  as 
much  a  part  of  the  antient  hiftory  ot  that  country,  as  the  reigns  of 
their  human  Kings,  and  attefted  in  the  fame  manner  by  the  books 
9f  the  priefts. 

That  fuch  beings  as  Dxmons  do  exlft,   is,   I  think,   evident   frona 
theory,   though  it   were  not  attefted  by  hiftory  ;   for  it  is  impoffible 
to   fuppofe,  that   the   great   interval  betwixt  an  intelledual  creature 
fuch   as  man,   and  the  fupreme  intelligence,  fhould  not  be  filled  up 
by  intelligences  fuperior  to  man,   but  inferior  by  infinite  degrees  to 
the  fupreme.     Some   of  thefe  we  may  fuppofe  to  be  cloathed  with 
fuch  bodies   as  ours,   which  was  the  cafe  of  the  tgyptian  Dsemon 
Kings.     Others  we  may  fuppofe  to  be,  like  the  Dsemons  mentioned 
by  Hefiod,  cloathed  with  aerial  bodies,  ai^a,  ^ta-a-ccy^f^svoi,  as   he  ex- 
preffes  it*,  and  who,  he  fays,  were  the  guardians  and  benefadtors  of 
men  ;   and  others  we  may  fuppofe  with  no  bodies  at  all,  but   to  be 
pure   immaterial    fubftances.     If  in   this   way  the  immenfe  interval 
betwixt  God  and  man  was  not  filled  up,  there  would   be  a  great 
gap  in   the  fyftem  of  the   univerfe  ;  and  things  would  not  be  con- 
neded  together,   the  higher  with  the  lower,  which  niuft  be  the  cafe 
in   every  perfed  fyftem,  fuch  as  that  of  the  univerfe  certainly  is  ; 
and  fo  far  as  we  can  obferve  on  the  earth,  every  thing  is  conneded 
with  every  thing,  as  I  have  elfewhere  obfervedfj  arid  the  more  we 
obferve  of  the  variety  of  nature,  the  more  we  ought  to  be  convinc- 
ed 

•  Ilefiodi,  Ojtira  et  Dks. 

\  Page  i8.  and  19.  of  this  volume. 


Chap.  VII.     A  N  T  I  E  N  T  M  E  T  A  P  H  Y  S  I  C  S.  i6r 

cd  of  the  truth  of  what  Arlftotlc  has  told  us,  that  every  thing, 
which  is  poflible  to  exift,  that  is,  which  does  not  imply  a  contra- 
didion  to  the  nature  of  things,  does  adually  exift;  for,  otherwife, 
that  poflibility  or  capacity  of  exiftence  would  be  in  vain.  Now,  t'le 
fame  author  tells  us,  that  as  there  is  nothing  deficient  in  the  fyftetn 
of  the  univerfe,  fo  there  is  nothing  fuperfluous. 

Moreover,  I  am  of  opinion,  that  it  was  agreeable  to  the  wifdotn 
and  goodnefs  of  God,  that  Man  fhould,  in  the  firft  ages  after  his  fall, 
have  the  affiftance  of  fuch  beings  as  the  Egyptian  Daemon-Kings 
were,  in  order  to  enable  him  to  recover  in  fome  degree  from  his 
fallen  ftate  even  in  this  life.  And,  accordingly,  1  am  convinced,  that 
all  the  arts  and  fciences  invented  in  Egypt  derive  their  origin  from 
thofe  Daemon-Kings,  fome  of  whom  are  mentioned  as  the  inventors 
of  certain  arts;  fuch  as  Ifis  and  Ofiris,  of  agriculture,  and  Theuth, 
or  the  Hermes  of  the  Greeks  and  the  Mercury  of  the  Latins,  of 
the  art  of  language,  as  I  Ihall  afterwards  obferve.  Nor  was  it  in 
Egypt  only  that  Providence  interpofed  in  this  extraordinary  way  for 
the  good  of  man.  It  is  preferved  in  the  traditions  of  the  Chinefe, 
that  while  they  were  in  the  favage  ftate,  a  man  appeared  among 
them,  whom  they  called  the  Son  of  Hea'vcn:  And,  in  their  religious 
proceffions,  they  Ihow  the  figures  of  twenty-four  men,  whom  they  call 
immortals.  Now  thefe  with  the  Son  of  Heaven,  as  they  called  him 
we  may,  I  think,  with  great  probability,  fuppofe  to  have  been  De- 
mons, who,  like  thofe  in  Egypt,  civilifed  the  people,,  and  gave  them 
laws  ;  and  for  that  reafon  are  remembered,  and  have  thofe  honours 
done  them.  Manco  Capuc,  the  firft  Inka  of  Peru,  and  his  fifter- 
wife,  have  a  very  great  refemblance  to  the  Ofiris  and  Ifis  of  the  E- 
gyptians :  So  great,  that  I  have  not  the  leaft  doubt  of  their  bein^- 
fuch  Txmons  as  the  Egyptian;  for  I  think  it  is  impoffible  to  ac- 
count, how  fuch  a  man  or  woman  ftiould  have  appeared  in  Peru  at 
fo  early  a  period  as  the  eighth  or  ninth  century,  and  introduced  ci- 

V0L.1V.  X  ,;ilUy 


i62  ANTIENT  MET  APHYSICS.    Book  II. 

v'llity  and  arts  among  the  fava,a:es  there.  They  could  not,  I  think, 
have  come  from  any  part  of  North  or  South  America,  v^-hich  we 
mufl:  fuppofe  to  have  been  tlien  much  more  barbarous  than  it  is  now. 
And  it  is  impoflible  to  fuppofe  that  they  fhould  have  crofled  the  At- 
lantic, and  have  come  from  Europe.  I  am,  therefore,  of  opinion, 
as  I  have  faid,  that  they  were  genii  or  Dsemons,  fent  down  from  hea- 
ven to  civilife  thofe  barbarians,  and  thus  far  enable  them  to  recover 
from  their  fallen  (late. 

Nor,  I  think,  is  the  teftimony  of  our  fcripture  wanting  to  fup- 
port  my  opinion  j  We  read  there  of  angels,  and  likewife  of  archan- 
gels, who  certainly  were  an  order  of  beings  fuperior  to  the  angels. 
We  may  therefore,  I  think,  fuppofe  them  to  be  altogether  imma- 
terial beings :  "Whereas  the  angels  may  have  been  Daemons  that  were 
embodied.  That  this  was  the  cafe  of  thofe  angels,  who  came  to 
vifit  Abiaham,  is  evident  ;  for  they  not  only  had  the  bodies  of  men, 
but  ate  and  drank  with  Abraham  *.  And  that  angels  had  a  fuper- 
intendency  and  diredion  of  human  affairs,  Plato  and  Kefiod  fuppofe. 
With  them  too  our  fcripture  agrees;  for  we  read,  in  the  Revelation,  of 
the  angels  of  different  churches :  And  in  Daniels  vifion,  he  fays,  he 
faw  the  angel  of  the  Kingdom  of  Perfia,  whom  he  calls  the  Prince  of 
Perfia,  but  plainly  dillinguifhes  him  from  the  Kings  of  Perfia,  and 
the  other  Kings  whom  he  mentions  in  that  vifion  t ;  and  alfo  the 
Prince  of  the  Greeks,  whom  I  underftand  likewife  to  be  the  angel 
of  the  Greeks:):.  And  he  alfo  mentions  the  angel  Michael,  as  thff 
great  Prince  ivhich  fanJttb  for  the  children  of  thy  people,  thitiSf 
for  the  children  of  Ifrael  §.  And  there  is  a  very  remarkable  paffage 
in  Deuteronomy  j] ,  which  fays,  Whsn  the  mofl  high  divided  the  nations^ 

and 

*  Genefis,  chap.  i8. 

f  Daniel,  chap.  1 1,  v.  2.  and  following. 

%  ibid.  chap.  lo,  v.  13,  6i  :o. 

J  Ibid,  chap,  12.  v.  i. 

;;  Deut.  chap.  33.  v.  3. 


Chap.  Vir.    ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  163 

and  fcattered  the  fans  of  Jdam,  be  Jet  bounds  to  the  7iatioiis  according  to 
the  number  of  the  Angels  of  God*.  And  for  this  Mofes  defires  the  peo- 
ple of  Ifrael  to  enquire  at  their  fathers  atid  their  elder s^  and  they  tvill 
tell  them  fo'X.  So  that  it  appears  to  have  been  a  conftant  tradition 
among  the  Ifraelites  from  the  earhefl:  times.  It  therefore  appears, 
that  every  nation  had  its  guardian  angel ;  and  I  think  we  may  rea- 
fonably  fuppofe,  that  thefe  angels,  being  in  rank  inferior  to  the  arch- 
angels, were  Dasmons,  though  perhaps  fuperior  to  the  Egyptian  De- 
mons, having  bodies  of  a  finer  texture  ;  and,  if  not  immortal,  liv- 
ing longer  than  the  Egyptian  Daemons  did,  though  thefe  lived  very- 
long,  forae  of  them  of  the  firft  race,  it  is  faid,  2000  years,  as  I  re- 
member. 

But  if  there  were  any  doubt  of  there  having  been  in  antient  times 
Dsemons,  on  the  earth,  of  the  human  form,  there  is  a  paflage  in  the 
fixth  chapter  of  Genefis,  which,  in  my  apprehenfion,  puts  the  matter 
out  of  all  doubt.  It  is  in  the  2d  verfe,  where  it  fays.  That  the  fans 
of  God  faiv  the  daughters  of  men,  that  they  ivcre  fair^  and  they  took 
them  'wives  of  ail  'which  they  cbofe.  And  in  the  4th  verfe  we  have 
thefe  words  :  There  "were  giants  tn  the  earth  in  thofe  days :  Andalfo 
after  that^  'when  the  fons  of  God  came  in  unto  the  daughters  of  men^ 
and  they  hare  children  to  them ;  the  fame  became  mighty  men^  'which 

X  2.  'were^ 

*  The  words  of  the  text  are,  *«ts  S'ls^ij/^ii' «  'vi'iim?  tint,  'tn  hi^frn^it  'vnvt  A^xu,  ic- 
mrtt  'ofici  ihuv  x«t'  u^ilu37  'a'/'/E>i«v  0£ou :  Which  are  thus  tranflated  in  our  Bible, 
ff^Aen  the  mofl  high  divided  to  the  naiwis  their  inheritance,  -when  he  feparated  the  fons  of 
jidain,  he  fet  the  bounds  of  the  peofle  according  to  the  number  of  the  children  of  Ifrael. 
This  is  one  of  the  mofl:  blundering  tranflations  in  our  Bible ;  for  it  gives  a  meaning  to 
the  paflage  quite  different  from  the  true  one  ;  which  undoubtedly  is,  that  God  divided 
the  nations  according  to  the  number  of  the  angels,  affigning  to  each  a  nation  as  his 
particular  province.  I  have  elfewhere  obferved  (Vol.  II.  of  Origin  of  Lannuace,  p.  84.^ 
another  blundering  tranflation  of  a  paflage  in  Exodus,  (chap.  3.}  where  our  tranflator'! 
make  nonfenfe  of  a  very  fublime  Theological  truth, 

t  Verfe  7.. 


x64  AN  T  I  EN  T  METAPHYSICS.    Book  II. 

ivere,  of  old,  men  of  renotvn.  And  the  paffage  is  rightly  tranflated 
according  to  the  Septuagint,  and  alfo  according  to  the  Hebrew,  if 
we  can  truft  to  the  tranflation  by  Calmet,  publiflied  at  Venice  in 
1754.  Now  thefe /cnj  0/ GoJ,  as  they  are  called,  who  copulated 
with  the  daughters  of  men,  muft  have  been  Daemons,  that  is  an  or- 
der of  beings  above  men,  but  embodied  as  men  are;  and  if  io,  it 
was  very  natural  that  the  children  fhould  be  much  fuperior  to  other 
men,  and  fuch  as  the  Greek  heroes,  or  'Ki/^ihav  yivoi  'av^^m,  as 
Homer  calls  them ;  being  a  mixture  of  women  with  a  fuperior  race 
of  beings. 

From  the  commentary  of  the  translator  above  mentioned,  it  is 
evident  that  this  was  the  opinion  of  the  elder  fathers  of  the  church, 
fuch  as  Laaantius,   Origen,  Juftin   Martyr,  Clemens  Alexandrinus, 
Cvprian  and  Ambrofms.     At  the  fame  time  he  informs  us,  that   the 
later  fathers  were  of  opinion,  that,  by  \hefons  of  God  here,  were  meant 
the  children  of  Seth,  and  that  the  daughters  of  men  were  the  children 
of  Cain.    And  the  reafon  they  gave  for  their  opinion  was,  that  thefe 
/ons  of  God  were  angels,  or  fpirits  entirely  feparaied  from  body,  fo 
that  they  could  not  mix  with  women.     But  this  is  plainly  begging 
the  queftion  ;  and  fuppofing  that  they  were  not  Dsfnons,  that  is  fpi- 
rits embodied,  but  pure  immateiial  fubftances.     Neither,  do  1  think, 
can  any  good  reafon  be  given,  nor  indeed   any  reafon   at   all,  why 
the  daughters  of  Cain  fliould   have  been  fo  much  handfomer  than 
the   daughters  of  Seth ;   fo  that  the  fons  of  Seth   fhould  have  fal- 
len in  love  with  them  rather  than  with  the  daughters  of  their  own 
family  and  tribe. 

And  thus,  I  think,  it  is  proved  that  Dremons,  fuch  as  the  Egyptian, 
exi[\ed  in  other  nations,  in  very  antient  times. 

As  thefe  Daemons  had  been  Kings  of  the  country,  and  had  intro- 
duced civifuy  and  invented  arts>  it  was  very  natural  that  they  fhould 

be 


Chap.  VII.     ANT  I  EN  T   METAPHYSICS.  i6s 

be  the  objeds  of  the  popular  worfhip.     At  the  fame  time,  I  think  it 
is  evident,  that  the  learned  among  the  Egyptians,  I  mean  the  Priefts, 
diftinguillied   betwixt  the  reiigion  of  the  people  and  the  religion  of 
philofophers  :  For  I  think  it  is  certain,  that  the  Priefts  not  only  be- 
lieved in  the  exiftence  of  one  fupreme  being,  but  they  knew   how 
all  things  proceed  from  him,  and  in  what  order;   firft,  the  principle 
of  intelligence,  by  which   all  things  were  made;  and,  fecondly,  the 
principle  of  life  and  animation^  without   which  the   whole   creation 
would  have  been  a  lifelefs  mafs :   In  fliort,  they  knew  the  myftery  of 
the  Trinity,  which  1  hold  to  be  a  truth  of  Philofophy,  and  of  the  high- 
eft  part  of  philofophy,  theology,  as  well  as  of  revelation;  a  truth, 
which  was  difcovered  by  fuch  philofophers  as  the  Egyptian  Priefts,  but 
could  not  have  been  known  to  the  apoftles  and  firft  Chriftians,  with- 
out revelation.    This  Theology  Plato  brought  with  him  from  Egypt; 
for  that  Plato  knew  this  myftery  of  the  Trinity,  but  kept  it  a  myf- 
tery, ty  uTo^orjroii,  as   he  exprefled   it,  there  is  no  doubt*;  and  for 
that  reafon,  his  Theology  is  faid,   by  the  fathers   of  the  church,  to 
agree  fo   much   with   'he  Chriftian"!".     Now  he  could  have  learned 
this  Theology  no  where  elfe  but  in  Egypt.     He  certainly  could  not 
learn  it  in  Greece,  as  among  the  Greek  philofophers  before  his  time, 
and  even  after  his  time,  down  to  the  time  when  Alexandria  became 
the  feat  of  philofophy,  there  is  not  the  leaft  hint  given  of  it.     And 
as  to  the  notion,  of  Plato  having  learned  it  from  fome  Jews  that  he 
met   with   in  Egypt  or  elfewhere,  in  the  firft  place,  there  is  no  evi- 
dence that  Plato  or  any  other  Greek   philofopher   went  among  the 
Jews  to  learn  philolophy  ;  and  fecondly,  if  he  had  gone  to  Jerufa- 
lem   to  converfe   with   the  Jews  there,  he  could  not  have  learned  it 
from  them,  as  it  is  certainly  not  revealed  in  the  books  of  the   Old 
Teftament,  nor  was  it  known  to  Jew  oj  Chriftian  till  the  coming  of 
our  Saviour. 

As 

*  Vol.  I.  of  Origin  of  Lang.  p.  7.  2d  edition,  and  vol.  V.  of  the  fame  work,  p.  ■^•5?. 
f  Vol.  V.  of  Origin  of  Lang.  p.  344.  and  345. 


l66  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.     Book  II. 

As  to  the  popular  religion  of  Egypt,  it  was  full  of  rites,  and  ce- 
remonies, and  of  pomps,  and  proceffions,  which  were  wonderfully 
attended  by  the  people :  And  Herodotus  mentions  one  proceffion  to 
the  city  of  Bouhaftis,  in  honour  of  Diana,  in  which  there  were 
700,000  men  and  women  befides  children*;  for  it  is  by  their  fenfes, 
and  not  by  their  underftanding,  that  the  vulgar  muft  be  captivated, 
and  their  attention  fixed  on  any  thing:  So  that  temples  and  altars, 
pomps  and  proceffions,  and  ceremonies  of  every  kind,  are  neceflary 
for  the  popular  religion  of  every  country.  Accordingly  there  was  of 
thefe  a  great  deal  in  the  Greek  and  Roman,  as  well  as  the  Egyptian 
religion.  The  Jewirti  religion,  befides  a  great  many  rites  and  ce- 
remonies, was  a  religion  of  more  fplendour  and  finery,  than  any.  of 
thofe  I  have  mentioned.  Among  them  Solomon's  temple  exceeded 
any  thing,  of  the  kind,  to  be  feen  in  the  other  countries  I  have 
named.  Even  when  they  were  in  the  wildernefs,  they  made  a  Ta- 
bernacle, an  Ark,  an  Altar,  and  a  Mercy  Seat,  of  wonderful  finery 
and  fumptuoufnefs.  The  Mercy  Seat  and  the  two  Cherubims  were 
of  pure  gold,  the  Ark  was  overlaid  with  gold,  outfide  and  infidef. 
The  Altar  was  likewife  overlaid  with  gold|.  And  not  only  were  the 
inaterials  fo  coftly,  but  the  art,  with  which  they  were  wrought,  we 
muft  fuppofe  to  have  been  perfed  of  the  kind  ;  for  the  artifts  were 
infpired  §:  And  there  was  a  magnificence  and  a  finery  in  the  drefs 
of  the  Jewifti  Priefts,  fuch  as  is  not  to  be  found  in  any  other  antient 
nation,  particularly  in  the  drefs  of  Aaron  the  high  Prieft,  which, 
befides  gold,  purple,  fcarlet,  and  fine  linen,  had,  upon  the  breaft- 
plate,  twelve  precious  ftones  of  different  kinds,  in  four  rows. 

Such  grandeur  and  magnificence  could  not  fail  to  excite  the  atten- 
tion of  a  people,  who  were  as  much  or  more  governed  by  their  fen- 
fes, 

»  Lib.  2.  chap.  60. 
f  Exodus,  chap.  25. 
X  Ibid.  chap.  30, 
5  Ibid.  chap.  31. 


Cliap.  VIT.    A  N  T  I  E  N  T  M  E  T  A  P  H  Y  S  r  G  S.  167 

fes,  than  any  people  we  read  of.  Even  after  their  miraculous  deli- 
verance from  Egypt,  by  the  plagues  fent  by  God  among  the  Egyp- 
tians, and  the  dividing  the  Red  Sea  to  give  them  a  paflage  through 
it,  I  doubt  whether  they  would  have  believed  in  God,  if  he  had  not 
condudcd  them  through  the  Wildernels  by  a  cloud  in  the  day  and 
a  fire  in  the  night;  and  if  they  had  nor,  from  the  top  of  mount  Si- 
nai, not  only  feen  him  but  heard  him :  So  that  he  was  perceived 
by  two  of  their  fenfes.  And  when  this  intercourfe  with  divinity  had 
ceafed  for  a  few  days,  (not  more  than  40),  they  defired  to  have  a  cor- 
poreal God,  whom  they  might  worlhip  :  And  this  was  the  figure  of 
Apis,  whom  they  had  feen  fo  much  adored  in  Egypt*.  And  it  would 
feem  that  God  thought  it  neceflary,  in  order  to  confirm  the  faith  of 
even  Mofes,  to  fhow  himfelf  to  him  under  a  bodily  form  "f. — Even 
after  they  were  fettled  in  the  land  of  Cannan,  they  had  fo  many 
facrifices,  religious  rites,  and  ceremonies,  that  they  ftill  kept  up  a 
communication  with  the  divinity  by  their  fenfes.  And  as  to  the 
Egyptians,  befides  facrifices  and  proceflions,  they  had  fo  many  liv- 
ing fymbols  of  divinity,  with  which  they  were  daily  converfant, 
and  of  which  I  fhall  prefcntly  fpeak,  that  they  might  be  faid  to  live 
with  their  Gods.  And  they  were  fo  fond  of  that  life,  and  fo  much 
occupied  by  it,  that  when  they  were  debarred  it,  and  their  temples 
fhut  up  and  facrifices  forbid,  which  was  the  cafe  under  Cheops,  the 
King  who  built  the  pyramid,  they  reckoned  themfelves  miferablej. 
It  is  true  that  they  were  employed  by  Cheops  in  building  his  pyramid, 
which  to  be  fure  was  a  great  labour.  But  they  would  have  been 
flill  more  miferable  if  they  had  had  nothing  to  do;  for  they  would 
not  have  known  how  to  have  fperit  the  time,  which  they  were  in 
ufe  to  fpend  in  their  devotion. 

Mufic  was  an  efl"ent;al  part  of  the  religion  of  the  antient  world: 
Nor  indeed  is  there  any  thing  perceived  by  our  fenfes,  thatafFeds  the 

fcntiments 

*  Exodus,  chap,  32. 

t  Ibid.  chap.  33. 

J  Herodotus,  lib.  2.  chap.  124 


i6g  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.     Book  II. 

fentiments  and  difpofitions  of  our  minds  more.  And  particularly  it 
may  be  fo  compofed,  as  to  infpire  devotion  more  perhaps  than  any 
thing  elfe.  And  accordingly  it  was  by  their  church  mufic,  chiefly,  as 
I  have  elfewhere  obferved*,  that  the  Jefuits  converted  the  barbarians 
of  Paraguay.  Nor  was  the  Religion  of  Egypt  wanting  in  this  reipedl; 
for  their  proceflions  were  accompained  by  mufic  f,  and  Plato  tells 
us,  that  they  had  feveral  fongs  of  Ifis,  that  were  10,000  years  old. 
And  they  confidered  mufic  as  fo  eflential,  both  to  the  religion  and 
the  good  government  of  the  country,  that  they  would  fuffer  no  in- 
novations to  be  made  in  it,  nor  any  other  mufic  to  be  practiced  but 
that  which  had  defcended  to  them  from  the  age  of  their  Gods  X- 

The  Egyptians,  befides  the  intercourfe  they  had  with  their  Gods, 
by  facrifices,  proceflions,  and  many  rites  and  ceremonies,  had  a  more 
dire£l  and  immediate  communication  with  them  by  the  means  of 
their  oracles,  which  they  confulted,  not  only  in  their  public  affairs, 
but  in  matters  of  private  concern,  fuch  as  difputes  between  man 
and  man.  And  the  refponfes  of  their  oracles  were  not  myfterious 
and  ambiguous,  as  among  the  Greeks,  but  plain  and  dire<St,  as  far 
as  I  can  colledt  from  Herodotus.  The  Egyptians  fought  to  be  in- 
formed of  future  events  in  no  other  way.  But  the  Greeks,  befides 
their  oracles,  which,  like  many  other  things,  they  got  from  Egypt, 
(as  is  evident  from  the  account,  which  Herodotus  gives  us,  of  their 
moft  antient  oracle,  that  of  Dodona§,)  divined  by  the  entrails  of  the 
beads  they  facrificed.  As  to  the  Romans,  they  had  no  oraele  worth 
mentioning,  and  none  that  they  confulted  in  their  public  affairs.  But 
they  divined  not  only  by  the  entrails  of  beafis,  but  by  the  flights  of 
birds,  and  even  by  the  feeding  of  chickens,  which  they  called  fa- 
cred,  and  kept  for  that  purpole. 

The 
*  Page  10 1,  of  this  volume. 
j-  Herodotus,  Lib.  2.  cap.  60. 

If  Plato  De  Legibus,  lib.  2.  p.  656.  and  65^7.  Edit.  Serrani,. 
5  Herodotus,  Lib.  2.  cap,  52 — 54.  el  Sfq^ue/i. 


Chap.  VII.     A  N  T  I  E  N  T  M  E  T  A  P  H  Y  S  I  C  S.  169 

The  antient  Chriflians,  and  even  the  mod  learned  among  themj 
iuch  as  Eufebius  and  Origin,  believed  that  the  antient  oracles  pro- 
ceeded from  Dacnrions,  and  were  not  mere  prieftcraft  and  impofture  ; 
but  that  they  had  ceafed  upon  the  coming  of  our  Saviour*.  That 
the  Egyptian  oracles  wrere  the  predidlions  of  Daemons,  to  whom  it 
vpas  permitted  to  reveal  future  events,  I  have  no  doubt;  and  that  they 
were  given  by  the  fpirits  of  fome  of  thofe  Demons,  who  had  reigned 
over  them.  Of  thefe  Herodotus  has  given  us  a  catalogue ;  they  were 
Hercules,  Apollo  and  Minerva,  Diana,  Mars,  Jupiter  and  Latonaf, 
But  I  make  a  diftindion  betwixt  the  oracles  of  the  Egyptians 
and  thofe  of  the  Greeks,  as  well  as  betwixt  their  Gods.  The  Gods 
of  the  Greeks  were  men,  and  born  of  men,  as  Herodotus  has  very 
plainly  told  us  J  :  For  they  were  men  who  had  either  come  from 
Crete,  (originally  I  am  perfuaded  from  Egypt),  or  were  born  in 
Greece,  to  whom  the  Greeks  gave  the  names  and  titles  of  Egyptian 
Gods,  and  afcribed  to  them  the  attributes  and  adventures  of  thefe 
Gods ;  whereas  I  think  I  have  proved,  that  the  Egyptian  Gods 
were  Dsemons,  that  is  Beings  fuperior  to  men.  And  if  that  be  ad- 
mitted, 

*  See  upon  this  fubjefl  a  very  pretty  little  work  of  Fontenellc,  entitled,  Hijioire  dt 
Oracles. 

\  Lib.  2.  chap.  83. 

X  Lib.  1.  cap.  131.  The  expreffion  he  ufes  is  '«»^j«Ti)?'t(E;{,  an  epithet  he  never  ap- 
plies  to  the  Egyptian  Gods,  whom  it  is  evident  he  thought  to  be  Gods,  or  at  lead 
beings  very  much  above  men  :  And  accordingly  he  every  where  mentions  them  with 
rCTcrence,  and  obferves  a  religious  filence  with  refpeft  to  their  anions  and  fufftrincs  : 
Taara  ftci  'iv^tcfix  zariti,  is  his  common  cxprcffion  upon  that  occafion.  It  appears  that 
he  was  defirous  to  conceal  even  that  they  were  mortal  beings :  And  accordingly  he 
does  not  mention  the  places  where  they  were  buried,  though  it  is  evident  that  he  knew 
them.  The  Egyptians,  he  tells  us,  had  what  they  called  hm/iXa,  the  name  they  gave  to 
their  myjlerks,  in  which  were  reprefented  the  actions  and  fuffcrings  of  their  Gods. 
(Lib.  2.  cap.  171,)  In  thefe  I  am  perfuaded  Herodotus  was  initiated,  under  the  vow  no 
doubt  cf  fecre  y,  which  made  him  obfcrve  that  religious  filence  with  refpeft  to  thefe  Gods. 

Vol.  IV.  y 


170  A  N  T  I  E  N  T  M  E  T  A  P  H  Y  S  I  C  S.    Book  IL 

mitted,  I  think  there  can  be  little  doubt,  that  the  oracles,  afcribed  to 
them,  did  truly  proceed  from  them.  But  as  the  Greeks  had  no 
Gods,  fuch  as  thofe  of  the  Egyptians,  neither  had  they  any  Das- 
mons,  who  uttered  oracles  to  them.  Their  oracles,  therefore,  we 
cannot  fuppofe  to  have  proceeded  from  any  fupernatural  power,  but 
from  mere  men,  fome  of  them,  1  think,  of  very  fuperior  under- 
ftanding.  Such  was  the  oracle  that  was  given  to  the  Athenians, 
when  they  confuked  the  Delphic  God  what  they  fhould  do,  when 
they  were  attacked  by  that  prodigious  army  of  Perfians  commanded 
by  their  King  Xerxes.  The  advice  they  got  was,  to  trujl  to  their 
•wooden  ivalls;  given,  like  mofl  of  the  oracles,  in  ambiguous  terms  ; 
and  which  accordingly  was  mifunderftood  by  fome  of  the  Athenians, 
who  thought  it  applied  to  fome  wooden  walls  of  their  Citadel  ;  but 
being  rightly  interpreted  by  Themiftocles,  to  mean  theiry7j//ii,  it  faved 
Greece,  and,  I  think,  I  may  add,  all  the  arts  and  fciences  that  we  have 
wot  from  Greece,  which  I  believe  would  have  been  loft  if  Xerxes  had 
then  conquered  that  country.  At  the  fame  time,  1  am  of  opinion,  that 
there  was  a  good  deal  of  prieftcraft  and  impoflure  in  thofe  Greek  ora- 
cles, particularly  in  later  times,  many  of  which  were  deteded  about  the 
time  of  our  Saviour's  coming,  and  which  1  believe  was  the  true  caufe 
of  their  ceafing  at  that  time  *.  But  with  refpcdl  to  the  Egyptian 
oracles,  there  is  not  the  lead  evidence  of  any  impoflure  in  them, 
though  it  may  be  true,  that  all  their  refponfes  might  not  be  ex- 
adly  true  ;  for  the  Daemons  were  not  infallible  :  Nor  does  it  ap- 
pear, that  thofe,  who  had  the  diredlion  and  fuperintendence  of  thofe 
oracles,  had  any  Intereft  to  falfify  thein,  fuch  as  the  Priefts  of  Delphi, 
and  of  other  oracles  in  Greece,  had.,  who  were  generally  very  v^^eli 
paid  for  their  refponfes. 

With  refped,  therefore,  to  the  Egyptian  oracles,  a  material  part  o£ 
their  religion,  by  which  they  were  dlreded  in  the  condud  of  their 

public 
J  Sec  Fontonelle's  work  before  quoted^ 


Cliap.  V!I.    A  N  T  I  E  N  T   M  E  T  A  P  H  Y  S  I  C  S.  171 

public  and  private  affairs,  there  was  nothing  impious  or  abfurd,  nor 
any  ground  to  fufpecl  fraud  or  impofture. 

The  only  other  thing  I  {hall  mention,  concerning  the  Egyptian 
religion,  is  what  is  peculiar  to  it,  and  not  to  be  found  1  believe  in  the 
religion  of  any  other  nation,  antient  or  modern  ;  I  mean  their  fa- 
ered  animals^  that  is  animals  confecrated  to  certain  divinities,  main- 
tained when  alive  with  great  care  and  attention  and  at  confuJerable 
expence,  and  when  dead  buried  with  much  pomp  and  ceremony  in 
facred  ground.  This  is  thought  by  many  to  be  fuch  an  abfurd  im- 
piety, as  to  difgrace  both  the  religion  and  the  fenfe  of  the  nation. 
But  Plutarch  has  informed  us  *,  that  thefe  animals  were  confecrated 
as  fymbols  or  emblems  of  the  attributes  of  the  divinity  ;  and  he 
fays,  what  1  think  is  very  ttue,  that  any  thing  of  the  animal  life,  or 
even  of  the  vegetable,  is  a  much  better  type  of  divinity  than  mere 
Inanimate  matter,  fuch  as  ftatues  of  marble  or  brafs,  by  which  the 
Greeks  ufed  to  reprefent  their  Gods.  But  I  think,  and  fo  does  Plu- 
tarch, that  it  is  moft  abfurd  to  fuppofe  that  the  wife  men  of  Egypt, 
or  even  the  fenfible  among  the  vulgar,  believed  that  thefe  animals 
were  real  divinities.  If  that  had  been  the  cafe,  our  Bible  would  not 
have  told  us  that  Mofes  was  inftrudled  in  all  the  ivifdom  of  the  Egyp~ 
tians.  By  the  means  of  thefe  animals,  the  Egyptians  may  be  faid  to 
have  lived  more  with  their  Gods,  than  any  other  nation  that  we 
hear  of,  having,  before  their  eyes,  fymbols  of  their  divinities,  not 
only  in  animals,  which  they  could  fee  but  rarely,  fuch  as  that  facred 
bird  the  Ibis,  who  deftroyed  ferpents,  and  was  therefore  thought  a 
very  fit  emblem  of  divinity,  but  common  animals,  fuch  as  dogs,  and 
cats. 

And  thus,  I  think,   is  proved  the  truth  of  what  Herodotus  fays, 

that  the  Egyptians  were  the  moft  religious  of  all  people.     And  if  it 

be  true,  as  I  think  it  certainly  is,   that  the  people  muft  be  governed 

Y  2  not 

•  Dc  Ifide  et  Oilride. 


172  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.     Book  IT, 

not  by  their  reafon,  but  by  their  fenfes,  it  is  neceflary,  that,  ia 
the  popular  religion  of  every  country,  there  fhould  be  a  great 
deal  of  pomp  and  {how,  rites  and  ceremonies,  fuch  as  we  have  feen 
there  were  in  the  Jewifh  religion,  and  that  of  the  other  countries  I 
have  mentioned.  Among  the  Egyptians,  their  facred  animals  were 
fo  many  memorials  of  their  Gods  conftantly  before  their  eyes :  So 
that  there  was  among  them  more  of  prefent  deity  than  in  any  other 
nation.  It  is  therefore  not  to  be  wondered,  that  they  were  the  moft 
religious  of  all  nations.  And  as  no  people  can  be  happy  or  well 
governed  without  religion,  they  were  for  that  reafon  the  happieft 
people,  I  believe,  that  ever  exifted,  and  the  beft  governed,  for  the 
longed  tra£l  of  time,  of  any  nation  that  we  hear  of. 

And  here  we  may  obferve  the  difference  betwixt  the  religion  of 
the  philofopher,  and  that  of  the  common  man  ;  the  philofopher, 
having  cultivated  and  improved,  by  the  ftudy  of  fcience  and  philofo- 
phy,  that  particle  of  divinity  which  is  in  him,  forms  the  ideas  of 
immaterial  fubftances,  and  of  intelligence  unembodied  ;  and  at  lafi: 
attains  to  the  idea  of  a  fupreme  intelligence  governing  this  univerfe, 
and  of  numbers  of  other  intelligences  under  him.  And  thus  he 
may  be  faid  to  live  in  the  world  of  fpirics,  being  feparated  from  bo- 
dy as  much  as  he  can  be  in  this  life.  While  the  vulgar  mind,  im- 
merfed  in  body,  is  only  converfant  with  objeds  material,  knowing 
nothing  of  fuperior  intelligences,  and  not  even  of  lis  own,  never 
having  ftudied  it.  Far  lefs  can  he  know  any  thing  of  the  fupreme 
intelligence,  unlefs  by  figns  and  fymbols,  rites  and  ceremonies,  and 
other  things  perceived  by  his  fenfes.  But  even  xhh/eafual  religion, 
as  it  may  be  called,  if  it  be  well  conduded  by  the  rulers  of  the 
ftate,  will  make  a  great  impreflion  upon  him,  and  infpire  him  with 
religious  fentiments,  which  muft  have  a  great  effed  upon  his  man- 
ners and  condutl  in  this  life,  and  will  prepare  him  alfo  for  a  better 
life  in  the  next  world.  But  a  religion  of  contetttplation,  fuch  as 
that  of  the  philofopher,  is  not  fit  for  an  uninftrudted  mind,  being, 
in  fuch  a  mind,  apt  to  run  into  fanaticifm  and  wild  enthufiafm. 

CHAP. 


Chap.  VTII.    ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  173 


CHAP.       viir. 


Of  Government^  and  the  general  Principles  upon  tvhicb  it  mujl  be 
founded. — Of  the   importance  of  Go'uernment, — ivithout   it  there 
could  have  been  no  arts  or  Jciences  among  men  ;  nor  of  confequence 
any  Religion. — Even  Religion  ivithout  Government  could  not  have 
wade  men  happy. — Therefore  Government  a  mofl  important  part  of 
the  hiflory  of  man. — Menfrjl  lived  in  herds, — then  in  families. — 
Examples  of  men  living  in  that  vuay  in  antient  times,  and  even  at 
this  day. — Of  the  Union  of  families.  States  voere  formed. — There 
Government  became  neceffary. — Every  State  mufl  confifl  of  the  Go- 
vernors and  the  Governed.  —  //  is  Nature  that  miift  ft  men  to  go- 
vern or  to  be  governed. — The   Greek  Philofophers  have  faid  too 
little  of  nature,  and  feem  to  have  fuppofed  that  educaUon  in  the 
matter  of  Government  ivas  every  thing : — Of  the  difference  of  men 
by  nature,— Jome  fit  to  govern^  and  fome  ft  to  be  governed.  —  Of 
Hefiod's  divifion  of  men  : — The  firfl  clafs  of  that  divifion  only  fit  to 
he  governors. — Thefe  mufl  be  very  feiv  in  every  nation. — The  ex- 
cellency of  the  fpecies^^lan^  confined  to  a  feiv   races,   like  that   of 
other  fpccicfes. — The  tivo  other  claffes  of  men  fit  only  to  be  govern- 
ed, hut  in  different  vaays. — No  education  can  make  men  fit  to  govern, 
ivho  by  nature  are  not  qualified. — Hoiv  it  ivasfirjl  difcovered  that 
77ien  by  nature  vnere  fo  qualified: — It  ivas  by  the  look,  the  figure, 
and  the  fine. — In  this  way  men  uuere  dijiingtnfjed  in  the  herds ; — 
and  fill  more  in  the  focieties  formed  of  families, — of  thefe  ivere  the 
firfl  founders  of  States  and  Rulers. — This  proved  by  the  example 
of  thefirfi  States  of  Greece.  — No  Slates  could  have  been  confitut- 
ed  ivithout  fuch  men. — The  defer iption  of  fich  n.en  by  Ik.i.er. — 

Of 


174  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.    Boot  IL 

Of  the  heroic  Kings  in  Greece  — Thefe  not  Ditmons,  like  the  Jirjl 
Egyptian  Kings,  but  mere  men  that  came  from  Cr^te  or  Egypt. — 
Of  the  heroic  form  of  Government ^— -of  the  qualifications  neceffary 
for  the  governor  offuch  a  flate. — The  fame  form  of  Government 
among  the  Indians  of  North  America.  —  Obfervations  upon  the  ne- 
ceffity  of  eloquence  for  carrying  on  a  free  Government.  —  The  antient 
heroic  Kings  excelled  in  that  art. — The  account  of  thofe  Kings  giv- 
en by  Homer^  an  important  part  in  the  hiflory  of  man.  —  They  ivere 
the  noblefl  race  of  men  that  ever  exifled. — No  exaggeration  by  Ho- 
mer in  their  charaBers  and  manners; — all  thofe  heroes  of  noble 
bhth. — The  value  of  horfes  depends  upon  their  birth.  —  No  diflinc- 
tion  betivixt  men  and  horfes  in  that  refpe6l. — In  later  times,  the  dif- 
tinclion  of  birth  obferved,  particularly  among  the  Athenians  and 
the  Romatis. — The  bad  confequences  of  the  negleB  of  that  diflinc- 
tion^  particularly  among  the  Romans. — The  farm  diflinHion  of  birth 
obferved  in  modern  times,  particularly  in  the  Knights  of  Malta.—- 
No  diflin^ion  of  races  of  men  noiv,  as  there  ivas  in  the  heroic  times. 
— Of  the  degeneracy  of  the  befl  races  of  men  by  impure  mixtures,  and 
by  an  improper  education  and  manner  of  life\ — Example  of  one  hc" 
roic  race  being  preferved  by  living  in  a  proper  ivay. — The  Govern- 
ment in  Rome  under  the  Kings,  thefa?ne  -with  the  heroical  Govern- 
ment.—Better  under  one  King  than  txuo  Confuls, — Of  the  dtfe6l  of 
the  heroic  Governments  in  giving  fo  much  poiver  to  the  people. — 
The  confequence  of  that  in  Athens  and  in  Rome. — Another  objeBion 
to  this  heroical  Government  is,  that  it  ivas  not  fitted  for  the  im- 
provement of  arts  and  fciences, — Theft  defects  remedied  in  the  Go- 
'vernment  of  Egypt. 

iN  the  preceding  chapter  I  have  fpoken  at  great  length  of  the  Re- 
ligion of  the  Fgyptians.  I  am  now  to  fpeak  of  their  Govern- 
ment;  and  1  hope  to  be  able  to  {how,  that  they  were  not  only  a 
mod  religious  people,  but  the  bed  governed,  that  we  have  ever  heard 

of. 


Chap.  VIII.    A  N  T  I  E  N  T  M  E  T  A  P  H  Y  S  I  C  S.  175 

of.  But,  before  I  come  to  treat  of  their  government  in  particu- 
lar, 1  will  fay  fomething  of  government  in  general,  and  explain  the 
principles  upon  which  I  think  all  good  government  muft  be  found- 
ed. 

It  is  government  that  conftitutes  civil  fociety,  and  makes  man,  of 
a  folitary  and  gregarious  animal,  a  Political  ammal  ;  and  fo  enables- 
him  to  invent  and  cultivate  faiences,  by  which  only  he  can  in  this 
life  make  any  progrefs  in  recovering  from  his  fallen  eftate.  With- 
out the  ufe  of  arts  and  fciences  to  a  certain  degree,  1  have  fhown 
both  from  reafon  and  fads  that  men  could  not  have  had  even  the 
idea  of  a  God,  nor  indeed  of  any  intelledual  being*:  For  it  is  only 
by  the  ftudy  of  ourfelves,  and  of  our  own  minds,  of  which  men  in 
the  mere  natural  ftate,  or  in  the  firft  ages  of  fociety,  have  not  the  ca- 
pacity, that  we  can  know  what  intelligence  is.  But  if  we  could 
fuppofe  that  men  without  arts  or  fciences  might  be  religious,  even 
religion  without  government  could  not  make  men  happy ;  for  it  is 
government  that  muft  guide  and  dire£l  the  exercifes  of  religion, 
which,  if  not  properly  guided  and  direded,  may  produce,  and  often 
have  produced,  great  mifchief  in  a  nation.  Government,  therefore, 
is  of  abfolute  neceflity  in  the  civilifed  life  ;  and  a  good  fyftem  of  go- 
vernment is  the  greateft  difcovery  of  fcience  and  phllofophy,  as  well 
as  the  moft  ufeful,  that  ever  was  made  by  man.  And  I  think  1  Ihall 
be  able  to  fhow,  that  it  was  firft  difcovered  in  Egypt.  This 
I  may  be  faid  to  have  proved  already,  as  1  have  fliown  that  fo 
many  arts  and  fciences  were  invented  in  Egypt,  which  could  not  have 
been  without  a  regular  form  of  polity,  and  one  particularly  calculat- 
ed for  the  invention  and  cultivation  of  arts  and  fciences.  As  govern- 
ment is  a  moft  important  part  of  the  hiftory  of  man,  I  will  here 
explain  the  nature  of  it,  and  give  fome  account  of  the  firft  govern- 
ments among  men,  and  of  the  progrefs  of  them  from  one  ftate  to 
another. 

That 
•  See  Chap.  VI.  of  this  book. 


176  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.    Boole  IT. 

That  men,  before  they  were  civillfed,  lived  inlierds,  and  copulat- 
ed promifcuoufly  like  cattle,  I  think  I  have  proved  by  fads  both  anti- 
ent  and  modern,  that  can  not  be  controverted  *.  And  I  think  froni 
reafon  and  principles,  fetting  afide  fadls,  it  is  evident  that  an  animal, 
who  had  not  yet  the  uft^  but  only  the  capacity ^  of  intelledt,  fliould 
live  in  the  natural  way  in  which  all  animals  live  that  are  not  beafts 
of  prey.  But  this  life  muft  have  produced  much  diforder  among 
animals  of  fo  many  paflions  and  appetites  as  men.  It  was  therefore 
very  natural,  that  fome  (hould  feparate  from  the  herd,  taking  with 
them  one  or  more  females  and  their  children.  And  thus  was  con- 
ftituted  the  family  fociety,  in  which  I  believe  men  lived  for  feveral 
ages  before  civil  fociety  was  conftituted.  In  this  way  the  families  of 
Abraham  and  Lot  lived  in  the  plains  of  Afia.  In  the  fame  way 
Homer  tells  us,  that  the  Cyclops  lived  in  Sicily,  every  man,  as  he 
fays,  governing  his  own  wife  and  children  :  And  in  the  fame  way 
the  people  of  Chili  live  at  this  dayt;  and  llkewife  a  people  at  a 
v£ry  great  diftance  from  them,  the  Samoeids  J. 

That  detached  families  fhould,  for  the  purpofe  of  carrying  on  any 
joint  work,  and  of  providing  for  the  neceflaries  of  life,  or  from  fomc 
other  motive  of  convenience,  unite  together  and  form  a  little  ftate, 
muft  I  think  in  procefs  of  time  neceffarily  have  happened  ;  and,  as 
Charlevoix  tells  us,  did  adually  happen  in  North  America,  where 
the  firft  ftates,  he  fays,  were  formed  by  the  Union  of  three  families. 
More  families  would  naturally  join  the  few  ihat  had  firft  aflbciated, 
and  for  the  fame  reafons :  And  thus  at  laft  a  great  number  of  fami- 
lies  would  be  aflbciated,  which   would   make  a  regular  polity,  and 

form 

•  Vol.  I.  of  Origin  of  Language,  Book  2.  chap.  3, 

+  Frefier,  in  his  account  of  South  America. 

X  This  faft  I  have  learned  from  a  book,  of  which  I  got  the  ufe  from  the  King's 
Library  in  London,  entitled,  «  Memoire  fur  les  Satnoeides  et  Lapons,'  written  by  a 
TrufTun,  who  was  in  exile  for  fome  years  at  Archangel. 


Chap.  VIII.    A  NTIENT   METAPHYSICS.  177 

form  of  government  of  abfolute  neceffity.     And  thus  did  Govern- 
ment firft  begin,  of  which  I  am  now  to  explain  the  nature. 

In  all  governments  there  muft  neceflarily  be  tv70  orders  of  men, 
the  governors  and  the  governed'^  which  mufl:  be  diflinguifhed  from 
one  another.  And  the  firft  thing  to  be  confidered  is,  who  are  by 
nature  fit  to  govern  ;  and  who  on  the  other  hand  are  only  fit  to  be 
governed  :  I  fay  by  nature ;  for  nature  muft  take  the  lead  in  all  the 
arts  of  life,  and  as  much  or  more,  I  think,  in  the  great  art  of  go- 
vernment, than  in  any  other.  And  I  think  the  Greek  philofophers, 
in  v^hat  they  have  written  upon  government,  have  faid  much  too 
little  of  nature,  but  fo  much  of  education,  as  one  fhould  believe  they 
thought  that  education  alone  could  fit  men  to  be  good  governors  or 
good  fubjeds.  But  though  I  hold  it  to  be  abfolutely  neceffary  for 
both  thefe  purpofes,  nature  muft  do  her  part,  and  lay  the  founda- 
tion, without  which  the  beft  education  can  avail  but  little. 

That  men  are  different  by  nature,  as  well  as  by  education,  I  think 
it  is  impoffible  to  deny.  We  muft  therefore  begin  this  inquiry,  by 
confidering  the  nature  of  man^  and  try  to  difcover  of  what  kind  thofe 
men  are,  that  by  nature  are  deftined  to  govern  or  to  be  governed. 
And  here  an  antient  Greek  poet,  I  mean  Hefiod,  has  given  us  a  di- 
vifion  of  men,  the  beft,  I  think,  that  ever  was  made  with  refpecl  to 
government.  Some  men,  fays  he,  are  capable  of  giving  good  ad- 
vice ;  others,  though  they  cannot  give  good  advice,  will  take  it : 
But  there  is  a  third  kind,  who  neither  can  give  good  advice,  nor 
will  take   it  when  given  by  others;  and  thefe,  fays  he,  are  ufelefs 


men  *. 


Vol.  IV.  Z  That 

Hefiod's  words  are, 

'0»T«;   fill    TTICVX^IS-TS;,    'o;    OS-JTO;    7r«JT«    »«D5£( 


178  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.     Book  11. 

That  there  is  a  difference  of  natural  parts  among  men,  and  that 
all  men  by  nature  are  not  fit  for  all  things  (for,  non  omnia  pojjumus 
omnes,  as  the  poet  fays,)  is  what  I  think  undeniable.  And  it  is  equal- 
ly certain,  that  of  the  firft  and  fuperior  clafs  of  men,  mentioned  by 
Hefiod,  the  governors  are  by  God  and  nature  deftined  to  be.  Theie 
muft  in  all  countries  be  very  few  in  number  ;  for  it  is  with  men  as 
with  other  animals,  the  excellency  of  the  fpecies  is  confined  to  a 
few  individuals,  and  their  race.  And  if  it  were  otherwife,  man  would 
be  an  exception  to  a  rule,  which  we  find  to  hold  univerlally,  among 
the  animals  that  we  are  beft  acquainted  with,  and  whofe  nature  we 
have  fludied,  fuch  as  horfes,  oxen,  and  dogs.  1  he  fecond  clafs  of  men 
is  more  numerous ;  and  thefe  are  the  men  who  are  capable  of  being 
governed  as  free  men,  that  is,  not  by  terror  or  compulfion,  but  by 
perfuafion,  being  able  to  judge  of  what  is  right  or  wrong  when  it 
is  fet  before  them.  But  the  third  clafs  is  the  moft  numerous  of 
all  in  every  nation  ;  and  they  muft  be  governed  by  fear  and  dread 
of  punifhment,  that  is  like  flaves  ;  and  as  they  are  fo  numerous  in 
every  country,  it  is  for  this  reafon  Ariftotle  has  faid,  that  a  great 
part  of  mankind  are  by  nature  doomed  to  be  flaves;  and  that,  there- 
fore, there  is  nothing  contrary  to  nature  in  the  ftate  of  flavery  *:  And 
I  will  add  that  there  is  many  a  man,  who  could  hardly  have  a  worfe 
mafter  than  himfelf.  Thus  it  appears,  that  Hefiod's  way  of  clafTing 
men,  not  only  points  out  to  us  thofe  who  are  fit  to  govern,  but  alfo 

thofe 

X,ff6>^K  y  tcv  xuxtitet  'ts  i'J  iivtiTi  Tnlnffi- 
'0(  h  xi  fttiT  uvrtt  »08>i  fiTit'  af>}i*v  axttint 

Opera  et  Dies.  v.  293.  et  fequett. 
Homer  very  well  defcribes  the  men  of  the  firft  clafs,   by  faying  that  they  fee  t«  »-{«r* 
x»t  titiocu.    Of  fuch  men  the  head  of  Janus  with  two  faces,  the  one  looking  hefure 
and  the  other  behind,  is  a  very  good  emblem. 


•  De  Republica,  Lib.  i.  Cap.  5.  and  following. 


Chap.  VIII.    A  NTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  179 

thofe  who  are  fit  to  be  governed  as  free  men,  that  is,  by  perfuafion, 
and  alib  thofe  who  mufl  be  governed  as  flaves. 

There  is  another  thing  to  be  obferved  concerning  the  nature  of 
man,  which,  I  am  perfaaded,  Hefiod  knew,  though  he  has  not  told 
it ;  that  the  quaUties  of  mind  as  well  as  of  body  defcend  to  the  race. 
And  in  this  refpeft,  too,  man  refembles  other  animals,  and  particu- 
larly the  horfe,  whofe  blood  is  known  by  his  fpirit,  as  well  as  by 
his  figure,  (hape,  and   movements. 

Thus  I  think  it  is  evident,  that  nature  has  laid  the  foundarion  of 
excellence  in  the  great  art  of  government,  as  well  as  in  other  arts; 
and  that  no  education  can  make  a  man  fit  to  govern,  who  is  not  by 
God  and  nature  deftined  for  that  office  :  And  it  only  remains  to  be 
inquired,  how  we  are  to  difcover  this  deftination.  That  men  by  go- 
verning, will  ihow  themfelves  fit  to  govern,  there  is  no  doubt.  But 
the  queftion  is,  by  what  marks  they  were  firft  diftinguiflied,  and  al- 
lowed to  govern.  And  I  fay  that  the  charadler  of  a  governing  man 
is  as  eafily  to  be  difcerned  in  the  features  of  a  man,  his  look, 
his  voice,  and  the  movements  of  his  body,  as  blood  is  in  a 
horfe,  by  his  look  and  movements  :  Nor  do  I  think  that  there  is 
any  defignation  of  chara£ler  fo  marked  in  us,  as  that  of  a  governing 
man.  Thefe  marks  that  I  have  mentioned,  joined  with  a  fuperior 
fize  and  figure,  make  what  Euripides  calls  the  'j<5o?  'a|/oi'  rv^awi^oi^ 
or  as  Tacitus  has  very  well  tranflated  ix,  forma  princ'tpe  'viro  digna. 

It  was  in  this  way,  that,  I  am  perfuaded,  men  were  firfl  diftinguifh- 

ed  among  herds  of  favages  ;  for  that  men  lived  in  herds  before  they 

were  formed  into  civil  focieties,  and  what  may  be  called  nations,  is, 

as  1  have  faid  *,  evident,  both  from  fa£t  and  hiftory,  and   from  the 

reafon  of  the  thing  :  Now  I  fay,  that,  among  thefe  herds,  men  who 

2  Z  were 

•  Page  176.  of  this  Vol. 


i8o  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.     Book  II, 

were  by  nature  deflined  to  govern,  would  be  diftinguiftied  by  the 
marks  above  mentioned  from  the  reft  of  the  herd,  and  followed  and 
admired;  and  ihey  would  be  much  more  fo,  when  families  joined  to- 
gether to  form  ftates.  And  if,  befides  their  fuperiority  of  figure,  they 
diftinguiflied  themfelves  in  fight  and  in  council,  and  invented  or  car- 
ried to  greater  perfection  fome  of  the  neceffary  arts  of  life,  they 
would  become  chiefs  and  rulers,  and  form  nations,  to  which  they 
would  give  their  names.  And  this  I  hold  to  have  been  the  origin  ot 
the  firft  governments  among  the  Greeks,  where  fuch  men  as  Dorus, 
.^olus,  Ion,  and  Hellen,  formed  the  nations  Dorians,  Cohans,  lo- 
nians,  and  Hellens ;  and  in  like  manner  in  Afia  Dardanus  and  I'ros 
formed  the  ftate  of  Troy,  and  gave  their  names  to  the  people. 

Without  men  fo  diftinguiflied  by  nature,  I  do  not  think  that  fuch 
ftates,  as  I  have  mentioned,  could  have  been  conftituted  in  Greece, 
nor  indeed  in  any  other  country  ;  for  it  is  impoflible  to  fuppofe  that 
favages,  who  had  by  nature  no  fuperiority  one  above  another,  would 
aflemble  together,  form  a  plan  of  polity,  and  chufe  kings  or  gover- 
nors :  I  am  perfuaded,  therefore,  that  in  every  country,  when  polity 
firft  began,  providence  fo  ordered  things,  that  men  ftaould  have  the 
afTiftance  either  of  Beings  fuperior  to  men,  fuch  as  the  Daemons  in 
Egypt  were,  (which  country,  as  it  was  intended  to  be  the  parent 
country  of  all  arts  and  fciences,  appears  to  have  been  particularly  fa- 
voured by  heaven,)  or  of  men  much  fuperior  to  other  men,  and  who 
were  by  God  and  nature  deftined  to  govern  their  fellow  creatures. 
And  this  1  hold  to  have  been  the  origin  of  all  nobility,  and  of  the 
Jure  Divino  right  of  Kings.     Of  fuch  a  King  Homer  has  faid, 

And  this  leads  me  to  fpeak  of  thofe  heroic  Kings  of  Greece,  who 
fought  at  Troy,  to  whom  Homer  fo  properly  applies  thefe  lines,  and 

of 

♦  Iliad.  2.  V.  205. 


Chap.  VIII.    ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  i8i 

of  the  form  of  polity  in  thofe  ftates,  which  they  governed.  They 
pretended  to  be  iomething  «iore  than  men, 

as  Homer  calls  them,  being  the  Sons,  as  they  fald,  of  Gods.  But 
the  Gods  of  Greece,  as  I  have  obferved  elfewhere,  were  not  even 
Demons,  but  mere  mortal  men,  who  came  to  Greece  from  Crete*, 
but  originally,  I  am  perfuaded,  from  Egypt,  from  which  Greece  got 
its  arts,  and  a  great  part  of  its  inhabitants.  The  Arcadians,  who 
were  the  moft  antient  people  in  Greece,  and  called  themleives  t^oo-i- 
Xtivoi^  that  is  more  antient  than  the  moon,  were  a  colony  from  Egypt; 
and  fo  were  the  Athenians  the  firft  people  in  Greece  f.  And  Hero- 
dotus has  told  us,  that  the  leaders  of  the  Dorians,  a  molt  antient 
tribe  in  Greece,  were  all  from  Egypt :  And  one  of  them  Hercules, 
of  whom  they  made  a  God,  was  originally  an  Egyptian,  as  the  fame 
author  tells  us,  both  by  the  father  and  mother.. 

The  governments  in  thofe  ftates  of  Greece,  where  thofe  heroes 
ruled,  were,  I  think,  perfedl  models  of  what  may  be  called  a 
free  government ;  for  the  kings  there  had  for  their  council  the  el- 
derly men  of  the  ftate,  which  vpas  what  they  called  the  /SoyXjj  yi^ov 
rut.  With  them  the  Kings  deliberated  :  Anj  what  was  determined, 
was  reported  by  the  King  to  a  general  aflembly  of  the  people.  So 
that  it  was  no  law  till  it  had  their  approbation;  and  that  was  obtain- 
ed by  the  King  haranguing  them  :  So  that  they  were  perfuaded 
before  they  adled.  And  for  that  reafon  it  was  neceflary  that  the 
Kings  fliould  excel  not  only  in  council  and  in  fight,  as  Homer  fays, 
but  in  eloquence.     And  accordingly  Phoenix  taught  Achilles. 

A 

*  Dlod.  Lib.  5.  cap,  77. 

f  See  what  I  have  faid  upon  the  fubjeft  of  the  Athenians  and  Arcadians,  being 
Egyptian  colonies,  in  Vol.  I.  of  Orig.  of  Lang.  2d.  edit.  p.  636.  and  following.  And 
in  Vol.  V.  p.  1 01. 

X  Iliad.  9.  V.  443. 


iSi  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.    Book  II. 

A  very  compleac  plan  of  education  defcribed  In  very  few  words.  So 
that  the  Kings  in  thefe  heroic  governments,  were  not  only  by  their 
birth  fuperior  to  other  men,  but  by  their  education.  This  fame  he- 
roic form  of  government  is  at  this  day  the  government  among  the 
Indians  in  North  America  ;  for  they  are  governed  by  hereditary 
chiefs,  and  a  council  of  their  Sachems  or  elderly  men.  And  what 
the  chief  and  this  council  determine,  is  propofed  to  a  general  aflem- 
bly  of  the  warriors  for  their  approbation  by  the  chief,  who  ha- 
rangues them,  and  who,  therefore,  like  the  Greek  heroic  Kings, 
muft  excel  in  eloquence,  as  well  as  in  council  and  in  fight.  And 
accordingly  it  is  well  known,  that  a  chief  can  have  no  dignity  or 
authority,  if  he  cannot  fpeak. 

And  this  fhows  the  excellency  of  the  art  of  eloquence,  by  which 
alone  a  free  government  can  be  carried  on :  For  in  private  conver- 
fation  men  may  be  convinced  by  queftion  and  anfvver ;  in  the  man- 
ner of  the  Socratic  dialogue,  the  mod  inftrudive  of  all  converfation  ; 
but  converfation  and  public  fpeaking,  are  two  things  quite  different; 
for,  in  the  affembly  of  the  people,  the  only  method  of  perfuafion  is 
by  haranguing,  when  the  ears  of  the  people  muft  be  filled  and 
pleafed,  as  well  as  their  underftandings  informed  ;  fo  that  the  found 
in  eloquence  muft  be  ftudied  as  well  as  the  fenfe.  And  of  adion, 
which  is  the  principal  quality  of  an  orator,  the  chief  part  is  the 
management  of  the  voice;  joined,  however,  to  that,  there  muft  be 
the  look  and  the  gefture  of  the  body;  and  a  certain  dignity  in  the 
whole  appearance  of  the  man.  Oratory,  therefore,  requires  not  only 
great  talents  of  mind,  but  advantages  of  perfon,  fuch  as  none  other 
of  the  fine  arts  requires,  fo  that  it  is  the  moft  eminent  and  moft 
dignified  of  all  arts,  and  I  think  is  not  improperly  honoured  by  Ci- 
cero with  the  appellation  of  Retina  artiutn.  And  I  have  no  doubt 
but  that  thofe  antient  heroic  Kings,  who  were  fuperior  men,  both 
in    mind  and  body,  were  very  great  orators,  perhaps  the  greateft 

that 


Chap.  Vlir.    ANTIENT   METAPHYSICS.  1S3 

that  ever  exiRed  ;  and,  accordingly,  Homer  has  put  into  their 
mouths,  as  I  have  elfewhere  obferved  *,  fome  of  the  fined  Speeches 
that  ever  were  made. 

The  account  which  Homer  in  his  Iliad  has  given  us  of  thofe  he- 
roic governments,  is  a  very  important  part  of  the  hiftory  of  man  ; 
For  I  do  not  think,  that  ever  fuch  men  eKided  fo  eminent  in  council 
and  in  fight,  in  eloquence,  public  fpirit,  private  friendlhip  and 
hofpitaliry.  Whatever  liberties  Homer  may  have  taken  with  fads, 
and  1  think  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  he  has  added  and  taken  a- 
way  circumftances,  and  altered  the  order  and  arrangement  of  them, 
that  he  might  give  to  his  fable  that  unity  and  ihat  ideal  beauty 
without  which  no  work  of  art  can  be  perfedl.  But,  as  to  the  cha- 
raders  and  manners,  I  have  not  the  leaft  doubt,  that  he  has  given 
them  truly  and  faithfully,  and  at  the  fame  time  minutely  and  circum- 
ftantially.  He  has  defcribed  the  Greek  heroes,  not  only  as  very 
great  but  very  amiable  men.  So  that  I  do  not  wonder,  that  Horace, 
though  he  lived  in  what  is  commonly  thought  a  very  fine  age, 
earneftly  wiHies  to  have  been  born  in  that  heroic  age, 

Hos  utimam  inter 

Heroas  naturn  tellus  me  prima  tuliflet  f 

There  are,  I  know,  who  think  that  Homer  has  exaggerated  much  in 
this  matter,  and  that,  upon  the  whole,  thofe  Greek  heroes  were 
men  fuch  as  we,  or  very  little  different.  But  if  he  had  afcribed  the 
adions,  he  makes  thofe  heroes  perform,  to  men  fuch  as  we,  I  fliould 
have  thought  the  Iliad  a  mock  heroic  poem,  like  the  battle  of  frogi 
and  mice. 

All  thofe  heroes  were,  as  I  have  fald,  men  of  illuftrious  birth, 

though  not  Gods,  nor  even  Daemons,  like  the  firft  Kings  of  Egypt. 

Nor  is  there  any  example,  in   thofe  antient  times,   of  men  who 

founded 
*  Vol.  VI.  of  Orlg.  of  Lan.  Book  4.  Chap.  i. 

t  Lib.  2.  Sat.  2,  V.  92. 


184  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.      Book  11. 

founded  ftates  or  performed  any  great  adion,  that  were  not  defcend- 
ed  of  noble  parents.  Among  us  at  this  day,  no  horfe  is  efteemed 
that  is  not  of  a  good  race ;  and  no  reafon  can  be  given  why  there 
fliould  not  be  blood  in  men  as  well  as  in  horfes  and  other  animals*; 
for  if  it  were  otherwife,  it  would  be  a  Angularity  in  our  fpecieS)  fuch 
as  cannot  be  prefumed.  Homer  geneologifes  his  heroes  as  accurately 
as  we  do  our  horfes ;  or  even  as  the  Arabians  do  theirs,  who  record 
the  geneologies  of  their  noble  horfes  as  carefully  as  we  in  Scotland 
record  the  rights  to  our  lands;  and  fome  of  thefe  geneologies  are  carri- 
ed back  2000  years  :  I  fay  their  noble  horfes;  for  we  are  not  to  ima- 
gine that  all  the  horfes  of  Arabia  are  of  equal  value  :  For  there  are 
-  there,  as  well  as  among  us,  vulgar  horfes  of  no  eftimation.  But 
not  only  in  the  heroic  age  was  birth  in  fuch  eftimation,  but  alfo  in 
later  times.  Among  the  Athenians  there  were  the  evraT^i^ctiy  that 
is,  men  of  noble  families,  who  were  highly  refpeded  till  the  go- 
vernment became  quite  democratical :  and  then  almoft  all  the  offices 
of  State,  all  of  them  as  far  as  I  remember,  except  that  of  General 
or  Admiral,  vpere  difpofed  of  by  lot  among  the  people,  without  the 
leaft  regard  to  birth,  education,  or  fortune.  Among  the  Romans  in 
the  firft  ages  of  their  ftate,  the  men  of  birth  made  a  diftindl  order  or 
clafs  of  men  quite  different  from  the  Plebeians  or  vulgar  men  ;*and  they 

only  difcharged  the  great  offices  of  ftate.     And  their  race  was  kept 

pure 

•  Fortes  creantur  fortibus  et  bonis : 
ElT:  in  juvencis,  eft  in  equis  patrum 
Virtus ;  nee  imbellem  feroces 
Progenerant  aquila:  columbam. 

Herat.  Lib.  4.  Od.  4. 
By  which  it  would  fcem,  Horace  thought  that  there  was  as  great,  or  nearly  as  great, 
a  difTerencc  betwixt  races  of  the  fame  fpecies,  as  betwixt  different  fpeciefes  of  animals 
of  the  fame  genus.  To  this  authority  from  Horace,  may  be  added  the  authority  of 
Ariftotle,  who  has  defined  nobility  to  be  x^tri)  rev  yiveg :  And  indeed  the  very  name 
given  it  in  Greek  of  luynu*  implies  that.  It  is,  therefore,  evident  that  Ariftotle,  as 
well  as  Horace,  thought  that  nobility  was  not  a  thing  merely  of  iiijlituiion,  as  fome 
people  now»a-days  believe  it  to  be,  but  that  it  had  a  foundation  in  nature. 


Chap.  Vlir.    ANTIENTMETAPHYSICS.  1S5 

pure,  and  unmixed  with  the  Plebeians :  Betwixt  whom  and  the  Pa- 
tricians, Intermarriages  were  prohibited  by  the  laws  of  the  XIT. 
Tables;  and  the  repealing  of  that  law,  and  admitting  the  Plebeians  to 
the  great  offices  of  State,  fuch  as  that  of  Conful  or  Dikflator,  was, 
in  my  opinion,  one  of  the  chief  caufes  of  the  ruin  of  their  State. 
The  firfl  Plebeian  Conful  was  taken  prifoner,  he  and  his  army,  by 
the  enemy  ;  and  another  Plebeian  Conful,  Terentius  Varro,  loft 
the   battle   of  Canne^  which   brought  the   Romans  to  the  brink  of 


ruin*. 


In  modern  times,  birth  was  alfo  much  refpeded,  particularly  la 
the  military  orders  of  knighthood,  fuch  as  the  order  of  Malta,  into 
which  no  man  at  this  day  can  be  admitted,  who  cannot  prove  his 
noble  defcent  for  fix  generations  on  both  fides.  And  the  pradice 
of  any  mean  trade,  or  money  making  art,  does  ever,  in  thefe  day?, 
degrade  a  man  of  the  highefl;  birth  fo  much,  that  he  cannot  be  a 
Knight  of'TVlalta,  though  ever  fo  nobly  born. 

But  I  do  not  think  that,  in  the  degenerate  (late  of  man  In  modern 
times,  there  ever  was  fuch  nobility,  even  among  our  Kings,  as  that 
of  thofe  antient  heroic  Kings,  or  of  the  Kings  of  Sparta  in  later 
times,  who  were  defcended  of  Hercules.  They  were  truly  jure 
Divino  Kings,  deftined  by  God  and  nature  to  govern  their  fellow 
creatures,  fuch  as  Homer  has  mentioned  in  the  paflage  above  quoted. 
But  the  beft  blood  may  be  corrupted  by  Impure  mixtures,  which 
mufl:  happen  very  frequently.  In  countries  where  money  is  fo  much 
valued  as  it  is  at  prefent  in  all  the  nations  of  Europe  f;  or  it  may 
be  debafed  by  the  education  of  tlie  youih  in  vicious  pleafures,  or 
Vol.  IV.  A  a  in 

•  See  upon  this  fubjecl,  Vol.  V.  of  the  Orig   of  Lang.  p.  199.  and  following. 

t  There  is  an  old  Greek  poet  who  fay:,  'hat  ttAsvtoj   ful-  '/m; :  Which  fhows  that 
even  in  antient  tin:es  tLofe  impure  miitures,  for  the  fake  of  money,  were  kncwji. 


j36  a  N  T  I  E  N  T  M  E  T  a  FH  Y  S  IC  S.    Book  H.. 

in  floth  and  indolence,  without  thefe  manly  exercifes,  of  emulaticn 
and  contention,  pradifed  by  the  Greeks,  which,  as  Arlftotle  has 
obferved,  give  vigour  to  the  mind  as  well  as  ftrength  to  the  body. 
It  was  fuch  an  education  under  the  difcipline  of  Lycurgus,  which 
preferved  fo  long  that  heroic  race  of  Kings  in  Sparta,  the  lad  of 
whom  died  glorioufly  in  battle,  as  Diodorus  Siculus  informs  us. 

The  form  of  government  of  Rome,  under  the  Kings,  was  the 
fame,  or  nearly  the  fame,  as  the  heroic  goveinment:  for  it  was  a 
government  by  a  King  and  a  Senate,  or  fiovXx  yioovrm,  with  the  con- 
currence and  approbation  of  the  people,  afTembled,  and  perfuaded  of 
the  juflice  and  expediency  of  the  mcafure  by  the  fpeeches  of  the  leaJ- 
Hig  men  :  And  1  hold,  that  the  government  under  one  King  was 
much  better  than  the  government  under  two  Confuls  :  For,  hov/- 
cver  government  may  be  divided  in  the  ordinary  management  af 
affairs,  and  in  times  of  peace  and  tranquillity,  in  all  extraordinary 
emergencies, when  thefafecy  of  the  ftate  is  in  danger,  recourfe  muft 
be  had  to  the  government  of  one  man  ;  which  undoubtedly  is  the 
beft  of  all  governments,  when  that  man  is  what  he  ought  to  be. 
And  accordingly  the  Roman  commonwealth  was  not  nine  years  old,, 
before  they  were  obliged  to  have  recourfe  to  a  Didator  *, 

The  heroic  government,  with  all  the  advantages  it  had,  was  liable 
to  one  defedt,  in  common  with  all  government  in  which  the  people 
have  any  (hare.  And  that  was  fadion  and  oppofiiion  to  the  govern- 
ment of  the  bed  men.  This  evil  is  very  little  felt  while  the  people 
continue  virtuous.  But,  when  they  become  deg,enerate  and  corrupt, 
it  produces  a  great  deal  of  mlfchief.  Even  as  early  as  the  time  of 
the  Trojan  war,  while  the  Greeks  were  yet  a  virtuous  people,  there 
was  a  Demagogue  among  them,  called  Therfites,  whofe  delight  it 
was  to  rail  at  tlie  ruling  men,  fuch  as  Agamemnon  and  Ulyffes, 
from  envy  no  doubt  of  their  lupeiior  merit,  and  becaufe  he  thought, 

and 

•  Eutrop.  Lib.  i-.  Cap.  l%. 


Chap.  VIII.    ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  187 

and  I  am  perfuaded  he  was  not  miftaken,  that  he  was  defpifed  by  them. 
This  Demagogue  was  treated  by  UlyiTes,as  he  deferved  to  be;  that  is 
he  was  beaten  by  him;  and  there  are  many  Demagogues,  in  modern 
times,  who  deferve  to  be  no  better  ufed.  Btrt  in  latter  times,  when 
the  people  were  corrupted  by  weahh  and  luxury,  the  number  of 
them  increafed  prodigioufly.  And  when  the  people  came  to  have 
the  whole  power  of  the  Rate  in  their  hands,  whicli  was  the  cafe  of 
Athens  in  later  times,  thofe  Demagogues  flattered  the  people,  and 
made  them  do  fome  as  bad  things  as  ever  tyrants  were  perfuaded  to 
do  by  their<:ourtiers.  And  in  Rome,  when  the  government  there  be- 
came democratical,  the  flate  was  rent  to  pieces  by  fadlions,  pro- 
fcriptions,  and  civil  wars,  and  at  laft  ended,  as  Democracies  com- 
monly do,  in  a  mod  violent  tyranny. 

But  another  very  capital  defe<£l  in  thefe  heroic  governments, 
was,  that  no  arts  or  fciences  of  any  value  could  be  invented  or  cul- 
tivated in  them.  So  that  however  good  the  government  might  be, 
while  tlie  people  remained  virtuous,  it  was  only  fit  for  a  people 
pradlifing  arms  and  agricuhure,  and  other  necelTary  arts  of  life, 
-which  was  the  cafe  of  the  people  of  Greece  at  the  time  of  the  Tro- 
jan war,  and  of  the  Romans  in  the  early  ages  of  their  ftate.  But 
the  chief  end  of  the  political  life,  is  to  improve  the  human  intelledl 
by  arts  and  fciences,  and  fo  carry  men  on  in  that  progrefs,  which 
by  God  and  nature  they  are  deftined  to  go  through,  in  order  to  re- 
ct)ver  that  ftate  of  blefs  from  which  they  had  fallen. 

That  thefe  defeds  were  remedied  in  the  Egyptian  government, 
I  will  fhow  in  the  fequel.  But,  before  I  come  to  fpeak  qf  that  go- 
vernment, I  think  it  will  be  proper  to  make  fome  obfervations  more 
upon  government  in  general ;  for  as  It  is  by  government  that  man 
is  made  a  political  animal,  and  fo  is  enabled  to  go  on  in  that  pro- 
grefs, which  God  and  nature  have  deftined  he  fhould  make  in  this 
life,  it  is  a  matter  of  the  greateft  importance  in  the  hiftory  of  man, 

A  a  2  CHAP. 


,i88  A  N  T  I  E  N  T  M  E  T  A  P  H  Y  S  I  C  S.    Book  IL 


CHAP.        IX. 

^he  qmjl'ion  to  he  con/tiered  is,  ivhich  is  the  hejlform  of  government 
among  men. — That  the  demccratical  is  the  tuorfi,  the  author  Jup- 
■pofes  in  the  preceding  chapter, — That  it  is  fo^  proved  a  priori,. 
from  the  nature  of  man  and  of  government: — Proved  aljh  by  fatl 
and  experience, — particularly  by  the  example  of  the  Athenians^ 
a  people^  the  cleverefl  that  perhaps  ever  exifled;  yet  they  could 
not  govern  themf elves. — When  they  ceafed  to  be  governed  by  the 
laws  ivhich  Solon  gave  them,  or  by  eminent  men,  that  got  the  lead 
among  them,  their  affairs  ivent  into  the  greatefl  diforder,  and  their 
State  ivas  ruined.  —  Their feizing  the  public  money,  and  applying 
it  to  their  maintainance  and  pleafures,  one  of  the  chief  can fes  of  their 
ruin. — This  made  them  live  an  indolent  and  pic ajur able  life-,  ivhich 
made  them  unfit  for  the  great  ivars,.  i.vherein  they  engaged — of 
their  loffes  in  the  Peloponefian  ivar,  — ivhich  had  like  to  have  ended 
in  the  total  deflruBion  of  their  city. — By  the  peace  ivhich  they  ivere 
forced  to  make,  they  ivere  fubjecJed  to  thirty  tyrants. — One  chief 
reafon  of  their  illfuccefs  in  the  ivar,  ivas  their  fufpicion  of  all  the 
men  of  eminence  among  them, — ivhich  made  them  practice  that  ex- 
traordinary  form  of  procefs  called  Oflracifm. — Example  of  that  in 
the  cafe  of  Ariflides. — They  might  perhaps  have  taken  Syracufe,  if 
they  had  not  recalled  Alcibiades  from  that  expedition. — Their  rea- 
fon for  recalling  him,  a  mofl  frivolous  one. — The  adminifl ration  of 
their  affairs  at  Rome  infome  inflances  accompanied  ivith  the  great- 
efl injuflice,  —  an  example  of  this  in  the  condemnation  and  execution 
of  fourteen  of  their  fea  commanders,  ivho  had  obtained  for  them  a 
fignal  vi^ory,— Their  democratical  form  of  government  corrtipted 

their 


Chap.  IX.     ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  1^9 

their  manners ^ — and  made  them  a  people  quite  different  from  their 
ancejlors.—'Th'ir  po'vernment  a  inojl  compleat  democracy ^  ivhere 
Libeitv  and  Eq;i  itv  nvere  in  the  highejl perjenion. — No  other  ex- 
ample necejfary  to  p'ove  ho-u>  bad  a  government  democracy  is,  than 
the  example  of  France  before  our  eyes; — more  folly,  madnefs,  and 
crimes-,  committed  under  that  goHjernment  by  the  French,  than  there 
is  any  example  (f  in  any  other  nation  in  the  fame  fhortjpace  of  time. 
—Afonarchy  the  bcfi  form  of  government. — It  is  the  government  of 
the  Univerfe,  and  the  frfl  government  among  men—fo  much  found- 
ed in  nature^  that  it  takes  place  occafionally  even  in  confitutions  of 
ii'hich  it  is  no  part,— as  in  the  cafe  of  the  DiBator  among  the 
Remans. —  Of  the  perpetual  Diclator  in  Rome,  and  then  of  their 
Emperors. — One  effential  difference  betivixt  the  democratical  and 
monarchical  government  s ,  that  the  democratical  never  can  be  a  good 
government,  but  the  monarchical,  though  not  reftrained  by  laves,  may 
be  a  good  government ; — Ivjo  chances  for  that,  if  the  King  be  a 
good  King,  or  his  Minifer  a  good  Minifer — The  particular  hap- 
pinefs  of  Britain  is  to  have  both  good. — Nothing  can  make  men  de- 
firous  of  a  change  offuch  a  government^  but  the  infciion  of  ths 
French  madntfs  ; — proper  means  vfed  to  prevent  that. 


THE  chief  thing  to  be  confidered  In  government  is,  which  of 
all  the  various  forms  of  it  that  have  been  ufed  by  men,  is  the 
bert.  From  what  I  have  faid  in  the  preceding  chapter,  the  reader 
will  fuppofe  that  I  think  the  democratical  form  is  the  word:  And 
indeed  I  am  fo  much  of  that  opinion,  that  I  hold  it  to  be  impofuble, 
by  the  nature  of  things,  that  a  democracy  fhould  be  a  good  govern- 
ment, or  even  that  it  ihould  not  be  the  worfl:  that  has  been  ufed  by 
men.  That  there  have  been  virtuous  people,  and  that  a  good  go- 
vernment, and  good  inflitutions  with  proper  education  may  make 
them  to,  there   is   no  reafon  to  doubt.     But  that  there  fhould  be  a 

vcifc 


59©  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.       Book  IF. 

nuife  people^  Is  by  the  nature  of  things  impoffible,  unlefs  we  are  to 
rejed  that  divifion  of  men  made  by  Kefiod,  and  maintain  that  all 
men  are  fit  to  give  good  council,  or  at  lead  to  take  it  when  given 
by  others.  I,  therefore,  hold  that  what  government  is  carried  on 
by  the  whole  people,  without  diflindion  of  birth,  rank,  education, 
or  fortune,  whether  it  be  carried  on  by  every  individual  in  perfon, 
or  by  deputies  or  delegates  chofen  by  them,  is  of  neceffity  a  bad 
government,  and  the  worft  of  all  governments,  in  which  their  can  be 
neither  virtue  nor  wifdom.  A  propofition  which  is  not  only  fup- 
ported  by  theory,  but  by  fads,  and  the  experience  of  all  ages. 

The  Athenians  were  certainly  a  moft  ingenious  people :  Nor  do 
I  believe  that  there  ever  exifted  a  people  more  acute,  and  of  better 
natural  parts,  and  thefe  too  improved  by  the  culture  of  arts  and 
fciences.  They  were  alfo  a  noble,  high  minded  people  :  Nor  was 
there  ever  a  nation  which  a£ted  fo  genc-ous,  and  fo  difmterefted  a 
part  as  they  did,  when  Xerxes  invaded  Greece  with  the  greatefl 
force,  both  by  fea  and  land,  that,  I  believe,  was  ever  coHeded  to- 
gether ;  By  which  they  not  only  faved  Greece,  but  all  thofe  arts 
and  fciences  which  we  have  got  from  the  Greeks,  and  which  are 
all  that  we  now  have  *.  But  even  they  could  not  govern  them- 
felves.  While  they  were  contented  with  the  conftitution  which 
Solon  had  given  them,  who  had  been  in  Egypt,  and  had  no  doubt 
ftudied  government  there,  as  well  as  other  arts  and  fciences,  they 
went  on  well  enough  ;  though  the  government  he  gave  them,  he 
faid,  was  not  the  heft  he  could  have  given  them,  but  the  beft  they 
would  receive.  And  even  after  they  had  made  their  government 
quite  popular,  while  their  councils  were  direded  by  a  Themiftocles, 
a  Peiicles,  or  an  Alcibiades,  their  affairs  were  profperous,  and  they 
were  the  leading  people  in  Greece.     But  when  their  counfellors 

were 

•  See  what  I  have  further  faid,  at  confiderable  length,  in  pralfe  of  the  Athenians. 
Vol.  Yl.  of  Orig.  of  Lang.  Book  V.  Chap.  2.  p.  344.  and  following. 


Chap.  TX.     ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  Ts^l 

■were  Demagogues,  who  flattered  them  as  much  as  ever  King  was 
flattered  by  his  courtiers,  afking  them  frequently  ivhat  they  ivoiild 
have,  and  ivhnt  they  JlooJild  do  to  pleafe  them^,  their  affairs  went 
rnto  the  greatefl  dilbrder,  and  ended  at  laft  in  the  ruin  of  their 
flate. 

One  of  the  chief  caufes  of  their  ruin,  was  their  feizing  upon  the 
revenues  of  their  ftate,  which,  we  are  told,  was  greater  than  all  the 
revenues  of  the  other  ftates  of  Greece  put  together.  And  this 
money  they  laid  out  upon  their  living,  and  their  pleafures,  particu- 
larly the  pleafuie  of  their  theatre  :  So  that  there  was  nothing  left 
for  defraying  the  public  fervice,  except,  fiiJI,  the  contributions  of 
the  richer  citizens,  called  'ncrcpo^ai^  a  very  unequal  and  arbitary  af- 
fcfinent ;  slxiA  fecondly,  what  they  called  Xsircv^yiui,  or  public  fer- 
vices,  which  were  alfo  a  burthen  upon  the  richer  fort,  fuch  as  the 
fitting  out  of  flaps  of  war,  which  was  a  great  part  of  the  expence 
of  their  ftate  :  And  even  the  rich  they  made  contribute  to  their 
pleafures,  by  defraying  the  expence  of  the  chorufes  of  their  tragedy 
and  comedy,  which  contribution  they  called  %'i^r,')  io!..'\ . 

By  thefe  means,  the  Athenians  led  an  eafy,  indolent,  and  pleafure- 
abie  life  ;  fuch  as  made  them  very  unfit  for  any  great  un'dertakings.- 
But  their  vanity,  flattered  by  their  Demagogues,  made  them  en- 
gage in  the  moft  dangerous  enterprifes,  by  which  they  fuffered 
greater  calamities,  in  a  fhorter  time,  than  almoft  any  people  we 
read  of.  Of  thefe  Ifocrates,  in  his  oration,  i)<r  P^rf,  has  given 
a  catalogue  %  beginning  with  the  lofs  of  300  gallies  in  Egypt 
with  all  their  crews,  in  a  foolilh  expedition  they  undertook  to  that 
country,  in  order  to  fupport  the  rebellion  of  the  Egyptians  againft 

the 

•  Vol.  Vr.  of  Orig.  of  Ling.  Bock  5.  Chap.  2.  p.  ^66. 

I  See  this  explained  at  more  length  in  Vol.  VI.  of  theOrij.  of  Lin^.  p.  2.45,  and' 
fcHowing. 

X  Page  460.  sdii.  Wolfii,. 


192  ANT  I  ENT  METAPHYSICS.     Book  II. 

the  King  of  Perfia.  In  fuch  another  expedition  to  Cyprus,  they 
loft  150  gallies.  They  carried  their  arms  even  as  far  as  the  Euxine 
fea,  where  they  loft,  of  themfelves  and  allies,  10,000  men  ;  and,  in 
the  Hellefpont,  Lyfander  deftroyed  200  of  their  gallies :  But  the 
moft  extraordinary  inftance  of  their  folly  and  madnefs^  as  I  ihlnk 
it  fhould  rather  be  called,  of  this  people,  was  their  expedition  a- 
gainft  Sicily,  which  happened  towards  the  end  of  the  Peloponefian 
war,  a  moft  dangerous  war,  which  the  Athenians  carried  on  againft 
the  Lacedaemonians  and  all  their  allies  in  Peloponefus,  and  which 
lafted  27  years.  When  they  undertook  this  expedition  to  Sicily, 
the  Lacedaemonians  were  in  poffeffion  of  a  confiderable  part  of 
their  country,  and  almoft  at  the  gates  of  their  city.  Yet,  even  in 
that  fituation,  they  thought  of  nothing  lefs  than  the  conqueft  of 
Sicily,  for  which  purpofe  they  fitted  out  a  very  great  fleet  and  army, 
■with  which  they  inverted  Syracufe,  though  they  never  had  received 
the  leaft  injury  from  the  Syracufans.  But  they  were  informed  that 
they  had  a  very  fine  territory  round  their  city,  which  they  propof- 
ed  to  divide  among  their  citizens.  In  this  expedition  they  loft  no 
lefs  than  300  fhips  of  war  and  40,000  men.  And  their  lofs  was  fo 
compleat,  that  there  was  not  a  fingle  man  left  to  carry  the  news  to 
Athens*. 

After  fuch  lofles,  it  was  no  wonder  that  they  concluded  fo  111  the 
Peloponefian  war,  which  had  like  to  have  ended  in  the  abfolute  def- 
trudion  of  their  city,  and  making  a  fheep  park  of  Attica.  This, 
we  are  told,  was  under  deliberation  among  the  Spartans  and  their 
allies.  But  inftead  of  that,  they  obliged  them  to  fubmit"to  the  go- 
vernment of  30  tyrants,  whom  the  Spartans  named. 

By  fuch  a  ferles  of  bad  conduit,  under  their  democratical  govern- 
ment, the  people  were  reduced  to  want  even  the  neceflaries  of  life, 

as 

•  D!od,  Lib.  13. 


Chap.  IX.     ANT  I  EN  T  METAPHYSICS,  193 

as  Ifocrates  tells  us  in  the  end  of  his  Areopagiticus.  He  there  fays 
a  thing,  that  I  fhould  not  have  believed  but  upon  the  faith  of  a 
cotemporary  author  of  fuch  reputation,  that  there  were  citizens 
then  in  Athens,  who  went  about  afking  charity  from  thofe  they 
met  in  the  ftreets,  to  the  difgrace,  as  he  very  properly  adds,  of  the 
city.  Till  1  read  that,  I  did  not  believe  that  any  antient  ftate  was 
ever  funk  to  fuch  a  degree  of  mifery  and  infamy. 

One  reafon,  among  others,  of  fuch  ill  fuccefs  in  their  wars,  was 
their  jealoufy  of  all  their  men  of  eminence,  and  their  fufpicion  that 
they  afpired  to  the  government  of  the  ftate,  and  to  put  an  end  to  their 
democracy.  And,  accordingly,  Xenophon,  in  the  accounts  that  he 
has  given  of  their  polity,  tells  us,  that  they  were  the  declared  ene- 
mies of  all  men  of  great  eminence  among  them.  And  they  had  a 
form  of  proceeding,  moft  extraordinary,  againft  fuch  men,  which 
they  called  Oflracifm ;  whereby,  without  accufation  or  trial,  they 
banilhed  them  for  10  years. 

In  this  way,  as  Cornelius  Nepos  has  informed  us,  they  treated 
Miltiades,  who  had  gained  for  them  the  famous  battle  of  Marathon, 
where  10,000  Athenians  defeated  100,000  Peifians;  and  which 
may  be  faid  to  have  been  the  prelude  to  all  the  victories  the 
Greeks  afterwards  obtairred  over  the  Perfians,  who,  till  that  time, 
were  reckoned  invincible;  fo  that,  even  at  the  battle  of  Platae^e,  the 
Spartans  dreaded  thein  fo  much,  that  they  yielded  the  poft  of  ho- 
nour  to  the  Athenians,  in  order  that  they  might  encounter  the  Per- 
fians, And  yet  chis  Miltiades  they  condemned  to  pay  a  fine,  that 
he  was  not  able  to  pay :  And  fo  the  deliverer  of  Athens  and  of 
Greece  died  in  a  jail.  And  what  aggravated  their  cruelty  exceedingly 
was,  that  Miltiades  had  never  (hown  the  lead  of  the  difpofition 
of  a  tyrant,  but  on  the  contrary,  the  grcateft  humanity,  courtefy, 
and  affability,  in  his  whole  life  and  condu(fl:.  Ijuc,  fays  our  author. 
Vol.  IV.  B  b  Populu: 


194 


ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.      Book  II. 


Popiiliis  maluit  cum  wnoxium  pleSli,  quatn  fe  diutius  ejfe  in  timore. 
His  fon  Cimon,  for  the  fame  debt,  was  kept  in  prifon  ;  and  could 
not  have  got  out  of  it,  if  he  had  not  fold  his  fifter  and  wife,  Elpinice, 
to  a  rich  man,  who  was  able  to  pay  the  debt:  But  Ihe  was  fold  with 
her  own  confent ;  for  ihe  had  more  generofity  than  the  people  of 
Athens,  and  declared  that  llie  would  not  fiifFcr  the  fon  of  Miltiades 
to  die  in  jail,  as  his  father  had  done.  After  he  was  in  this  manner 
releafed,  he  obtained  for  the  people  the  mod  fignal  vidories,  both 
by  fea  and  land.  And,  as  they  were  then  overburdened  voith  their 
numbers,  he  led  a  colony  oi  10,000  of  them  into  Thrace  ;  and  hav- 
ing defeated  the  Barbarians  there,  founded  a  great  city,  well  known, 
in  after  times,  by  the  name  of  Amphipolis.  For  all  this  he  was  re- 
warded, by  the  people*  with  the  oftracifm,  though,  as  Cornelius  Ne- 
pos,  from  whom  I  have  taken  this  account  of  him,  informs  us,  he 
was  a  man  of  the  mofl  fingular  benevolence  and  liberality  that 
perhaps  ever  exifted,  and  at  the  fame  time  lived  in  the  moft  fplen- 
did,  as  well  as  the  moft  hofpitable,  manner.  This  it  is  likely  was 
one  thing,  among  others,  which  provoked  that  malignant  and  in- 
vidious people  againft  him. 

In  the  fame  way  they  treated  ThemiftocleSj  another  faviour  of 
Greece  ;  and  who  perhaps  was  the  greateft  man  both  in  war  and 
in  peace,  in  council  and  in  a£tion,  that  they  ever  had.  It 
was  to  his  advice,  to  leave  their  city,  and  to  betake  themfelves  to 
their  fliips,  or  wooden  walls,  as  the  Oracle  called  them,  that  they 
and  all  the  Greeks  owed  their  fafely,    when  invaded  by  Xerxes. 

In  the  fame  way  they  treated  not  only  men  of  great  abilities,  but 

of  tlie  greateft  virtues,  fuch  as  Ariftides,  who  had  luch  a  reputation 

for  integrity  and  juftice  in  his  dealings,  that  he   was  furnamed  the 

jitjl.     But  he  too  was  oftracifed,  for  no  other  reafon,  than  this  lur- 

name;  as  one,  who  voted  for  his  exile,  told  himfelf.     '  1  do  not,  (fays 

he, 


Chap.  IX.     ANTIENTMETAPHYSI  C  S.  195 

'  he),  know  the  man;  but  I  titiiik  no  man  i?  eivitled  to  be  dininguilTi- 
•  ed  by  fuch  an  epithet'.  Their  expedition  scrainft  Syracufe,  mad  as 
it  was,  might  have  fucceeded,  if  they  h.  :  .ontinued  Akibiades  m 
the  command  of  the  forces,  which  ;bey  1  ^  '  to  Sicny  ;  but,  infteaj 
of  that,  they  recalled  him  to  land  trial  tor  a  ciune,  whi.h  I 
think  it  is  impoffible  he  could  hnve  been  .  ihy  of,  that  of  disfi- 
guring, in  one  niglit,  al!  the  ftatues  of  h  aes,  in  Athens  ;  ma- 
ny of  which  flatues  were  copied  from  biaJes  hi  i.i'eif,  wlio 
was  as  eminent  for  the  beauty  of  his  pi  .  as  for  the  quali- 
ties of  his  mind.  Such  a  crime,  I  think,  was  more  likely  to  hive 
been  committed  by  fome  v.'ho  envied  and  hated  Alcibiades,  but 
who  endeavoured  to  perfuade  the  people  that  he  was  the  auihor 
of  it.  1  will  mention  only  one  other  a6l  of  theirs,  of  the  greateft 
ingratitude,  more  violent  and  unj  ift,  than  any  I  have  hitherto  men- 
tioned, or  than  I  believe  was  ever  committed  by  any  tyrant.  It 
was  condemning  to  death  by  one  vote,  and  executing,  five  of  iheir 
naval  commanders  who  iiad  obtained  for  them  a  noble  vidlory  in 
the  gteateft  fea  fight  that  ever  was  between  Greeks  and  Greeks; 
becaufe  they  h.id  lef;  unburied  thofe  of  the  Athenians,  who  were 
lofl  in  that  battle,  and  had  perilhed  in  the  fea,  when  they  were 
prevented  by  a  violent  ftorm  from  recovering  their  bodies,  and  giv- 
ing them  buriah  Upon  this  Diodorus  Siculus  lias  pronounced  the 
cenf'jre,  that  I  think  it  deferved,  treating  the  people  as  mad,  who 
could  inflidl  fuch  a  punifhment  upon  men  who  not  only  had  com- 
mitted no  crime,  but  were  worthy  of  the  higheft  praile  and  great- 
e(l  honours.  Diodorus  fays,  that  it  was  the  Demagogues  who 
incited  them  to  this  adt  of  violence  and  injuffice.  But  it  would 
not  have  been  in  the  power  of  the  Demagogues  to  have  done  this, 
if  they  had  not  been  poiTeiTed  of  that  fpirit  of  envy,  jealoufy,  and 
fufpicion,  which  made  them  the  enemies  of  men,  who  had  diftin- 
guiihed  themfelves  fo  much  by  fuch  a  fignal  vidory. 

B  b  2  In 


igS  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.    Book  11. 

In  fhort,  their  envy  and  jealcufy  of  men  of  fuperior  merit  went  fo 
far  at  laft,  that  thefe  men  could  not  live  with  them :  And  all  their  great 
men  in  later  times,  fuch  as  Conon,  Timotheus,  and  Iphicrates*,  would 
not  live  in  the  city,  but  chofe  rather  to  go  into  a  kind  of  voluntary 
exile,  excepting  only  Phocion,  who  lived  with  them  indeed,  but 
was  put  to  death  by  them,  without  fo  much  as  being  heard  in  his 
defence. 

From  what  has  been  faid,  I  think  it  is  evident,  that  a  democrati- 
cal  government  is  not  only  in  itfelf  a  very  bad  government,  in  my  o- 
pinion  the  worft  government  of  any,  but  that  it  has  an  immediate 
and  dired  tendency  to  corrupt  the  manners  of  the  people  fo  governed. 
The  people  of  Athens,  till  their  government  became  altogether  de- 
mocratical,  were  a  magnanimous,  noble  minded  people,  as  eminent 
in  virtue  as  they  were  in  arms  and  arts  :  But,  how  much  they 
were  degenerated  from  their  anceftors,  when  they  undertook  to  go- 
vern themfelves,  Demofthenes,  in  more  than  one  oration,  has  in- 
formed us*;  and,  indeed,  the  government  was  fuch,  that  it  muft 
have  corrupted  the  bed  people  in  the  world  :  For  every  citizen  of 
Athens,  without  diftindlion  of  birth,  rank,  education,  or  fortune,  was 
entitled  not  only  to  a  vote  in  the  public  affemblies,  but  to  hold  any 
office  of  (late,  even  the  office  of  fenator,  and  to  be  one  of  the  coun- 
cil of  500,  (which  was  reckoned  the  great  pillar  of  their  ftate,)  and 
to  hold  every  other  office,  with  the  exception  only  of  the  offices  of 
general  or  admiral,  who  were  eleded  by  the  people  ;  but  even  in  their 
election  he  had  a  vote.  But  as  to  all  the  other  offices,  they  were 
diftiibuted  among  the  whole  people  by  lot.     So  that  in  Athens, 

there 

*  Upon  this  occafion  Cornelius  Nepos  makes  an  excellent  obfervation  :  «  Eft  hoc 
'  commune  vitium  in  mngnis  liberifque  civitatibus,  ut  invidia  gloriae  comes  fit,  et  li- 
«  benter  de  his  detrahant  quos  eminere  videant  altius  ;  neque  animo  aequo  pauperes 
■*  alienam  opulentium  intuentur  fortunam'. — In  vita  Chabriac. 

I  See  Vol.  VI.  of  Orig.  of  Lang.  p.  3^57.  and  following. 


Chap.  IX.    A  N  T  I  E  N  T  M  E  T  A  P  H  Y  S  I  C  S.  197 

there  was  the  moft  perfe£t  Liberty  and  Equality;  two  things,  of 
which  we  have  heard  fo  much  of  late. 


I  think  no  other  evidence  is  neceflary  to  prove  from  fa£t  and  ex- 
perience, as  well  as  from  theory,  that  the  democratical  form  of  go- 
vernment is  the  worft  of  all.  It  is  a  form  which  naturally  puts  an 
end  to  itfelf  without  any  external  violence  :  Nor  is  there  any  ex- 
ample in  the  hiftory  of  man,  of  that  form  of  government  lading  for 
any  confiderable  time.  But  we  need  not  go  back  to  ancient  hifto- 
ry, to  feek  for  examples  of  the  pernicious  confequences  of  fuch  a 
government;  we  have  an  example  of  it  at  prefent  before  our  eyes,  fuf- 
ficient  to  convince  every  man  of  common  fenfe  and  obfervation,  that 
it  is  produdive  not  only  of  the  greateft  folly  and  madnefs,  but  of  the 
greateft  crimes.  The  republic  of  France  has  not  yet  lafted  a  year, 
now  while  I  am  writing  ;  and  in  that  fhort  time,  it  has  produced 
more  diforders,  more  folly,  and  madnefs,  and  alfo  more  crimes,  than 
ever  happened  in  any  nation  fmce  the  beginning  of  the  world,  in 
the  fame  ihort  fpace  of  time  ;  the  confequence  of  which  has  been 
the  forming  an  union  againft  them,  of  more  nations  in  Europe, 
than  ever  were  united  againft  one  nation.  To  deliberate  how  they 
are  to  defend  themfelves  againft  thefe  combined  powers,  they  meet 
in  an  aflembly,  which  they  call  the  national  convention;  where,  be- 
fides  the  conduft  of  the  war,  they  have  before  them  that  moft  im- 
portant bufinefs,  the  forming  a  conftitutionj  and  regulating  the  in- 
ternal government  of  the  country.  But  things  are  there  conduded 
with  fo  much  diforder,  noife,  and  tumult,  and  what  may  often  be 
called  mobbing,  that  there  neither  is,  nor  I  believe  ever  was,  an  ex- 
ample of  the  like  in  any  aflembly  met  to  deliberate  on  public  bufi- 
nefs. This  alone  convinces  me,  that  they  are  utterly  incapable  of 
carrying  on  any  kind  of  government  even  in  the  moft  quiet  times. 

Having 


198  A  N  T  I  E  N  T  M  E  T  A  P  H  Y  S  I  C  S.  ■    Book  U. 

Having  thus  fhovvn  what  is  the  worft  kind  of  government,  the 
next  thing  to  be  confidered  is,  which  is  the  heft.  And  1  have  as 
little  doubt  upon  that  point  as  upon  the  other;  for  I  fay  that  mo- 
narchy is  the  heft  form.  It  is  the  government  of  the  univerfe,  and 
it  was  the  firft  government  upon  earth ;  for  there  is  nothing  more 
certain,  than  what  the  Roman  hiftorian,  Sallull,  tells  us,  that,  m  terris 
id  prinmm  nomen  imperii  fuit  *.  And  Polybius  has  told  us  the  fame 
thing  in  his  fixth  book,  where  he  has  given  the  fame  account,  that 
I  have  given,  of  the  origin  of  the  firft  government  of  Kin^s  among 
inen  ;  and  with  both  thefe  authcrs  Cicero,  in  his  third  book  De  Le- 
gibus,  agrees.  And  as  it  was  the  firft  government  among  men  fo 
it  is  the  laft ;  and  that  in  which  all  governments  have  fooner 
or  huer  ended.  The  government  of  one  man  is  (a  much  founded 
in  nature,  ihat  even  in  thole  conllitutions  of  which  it  was  no 
parr,  it  was  uled  when  the  ftate  was  thought  to  be  in  danger. 
The  Roman  Commonwealth  wjs  not,  as  1  have  faid  t,  nine 
years  old  before  they  had  recourfe  to  it,  and  chofe  a  Defpot 
under  the  name  of  a  Didator.  This  they  did  upon  feveral 
particular  occafions ;  and  at  laft,  when  their  government  was 
fo  much  corrupred,  that  the  Commonwealth  was  become  a  mere 
name,  aJJjadow  nvithout  a  fubftance,  which  was  the  faying  not  only 
of  Julius  Caefar,  bnt  of  Cicero,  they  chofe  a  perpetual  Dictator ; 
andvvere  fo  lucky  as  to  pitch  upon  the  beft  man  among  them  for 
that  office.  But  as  a  great  deal  of  the  republican  fpirit  remained 
among  them,  they  murdered  him,  wanting  to  reftore  the  republican 
government.  Of  this  the  confequence  was  no  other  than  what  might 
have  been  expedled ;  for  it  ended  in  the  total  deftrudion  of  the 
Commonwealth,  and  the  eftabliftiment  of  the  defpotic  government 
of  the  Emperors ;  which  under  the  firft  of  them  was  mild  and  gen- 
tle 

*  Bell.  Catallnar.  Cap.  2. 
t  Page  .  86.  of  this  Volume. 


Chap.  IX.     A  N  T  I  E  N  T   M  E  T  A  P  H  Y  S  {  G  S.  199 

tie  enough,  but  under  his  fucceflors  became  a  tnofi:  violent  ty- 
ranny, by  Ibrae  of  them  carried  to  an  excefs,  of  which  there 
is  hardly  any  other  example  in  hiftory.  And  in  other  ftates,  as  in 
Athens,  while  the  republic  fubfilled,  the  people  were  only  bappy,  as 
I  have  obierved,  when  they  refigned  themielves  to  the  government 
of  one  man. 

I  will  conclude  with  obferving  one  difference  betwixt  the  mo- 
narchical and  democratical  government ;  and  it  is  a  moll  material 
one.  The  democratical  government,  I  think  I  have  (hown,  mult 
be  in  all  cafes  a  bad  government:  Whereas,  the  kingly  govern- 
ment, if  the  King  be  a  good  man,  though  altogether  unreftrain- 
ed  by  laws  and  what  we  call  a  conjTitution,  may  be  a  good  govern- 
ment, and  the  people  happy  under  it.  This  was  the  cafe  of  the 
Romans  under  fome  of  their  Emperors,  fuch  as  Vefpafian,  Titus, 
and  Marcus  Aurelius.  Or  if  the  King  fhould  not  be  a  good  man 
himfelf,  but  have  a  good  minifter,  ftill  the  people  might  be  hap- 
py under  his  government.  But  it  is  the  fingular  happinefs  of  Great 
Britain  at  this  time,  that  we  have  both  a  good  King  and  a  good 
Minifter,  under  the  controul,  however,  of  the  two  Houfes  of  Parlia- 
ment ;  to  which,  I  am  perfuaded,  both  fubmit  with  great  chearful- 
nefs;  as  1  believe  that  there  is  not  a  man  in  the  Ifland  that  is  a  great- 
er friend  to  our  conftitution  than  they  both  are.  Our  government 
thus  conftituted,  has  been  of  late  fo  adminiftred,  that,  with  the  help 
of  fome  other  nations  in  Europe,  whom  we  put  in  motion,  we  have 
delivered  !  u;ope  from  thofe  enemies  of  God  and  man,  whofe  pro- 
fefled  defign  it  was  to  put  down  regal  government  and  the  prefent 
conftitution  in  every  kingdom  in  Europe,  and  to  introduce,  in  place 
of  them,  that  Ochlocracy,  ^for  it  does  not  deferve  the  name  of  demo- 
cracy,) which  prevails  in  their  own  country,  and  has  joined  to  the  moft 
diforderly  government,  impiety  and  contempt  of  all  religion.    By  this 

means, 


J 


200  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.    Book  II. 

means,  Britain  makes  the  greatefl  figure,  that  it  ever  made,  in  the  af- 
fairs of  Eufope,  and  in  the  beft  caufe.  Under  fuch  a  government, 
and  in  fuch  a  fitnation  of  our  affairs,  what  Ihould  make  any  BritKh 
man  dlflatisfied  with  our  prefent  government,  and  defirous  of  a 
change  not  only  of  the  minifler,  but  of  the  conftitution  ?  Nothing 
that  I  can  imagine  except  the  contagion  of  the  French  madnefs  : 
To  prevent  which,  the  wifdom  of  our  adminiftraiion  has  ufed  very 
proper  means,  and  which  I  hope  will  be  fuccefsful. 


CHAP. 


Chap.  X.     ANTIENTMETAPHYSICS.  201 


C    H     A    P.        X. 

Of  the  government  of  Egypt. — That  government  very  a'ntienty — as 
antient  as  the  days  of  jofeph ; — no  other  regular  government  then 
on  earthy  except  in  India  : — But  that  government  ■derived  from 
Egypt. — All  govermnents  confijl  of  the  governors  and  the  governed. 
— Of  the  governors  in  Egypt  — The  government  the  remonurchical, 
ivhich  the  Egyptians  thought  the  bejl  government. — The  King  in 
Egypt  had  only  the  executive  povuer. — A  higher  clafs  of  men  ivere 
his  Counfellors.  —  To  them  ivere  intriijled  the  religion  of  the  coun- 
try, and  arts  and  fciences.  —  The  excellency  of  every  man,  in  every 
art  and  fcicncCy  mufi  depend  upon  his  natural  genius  and  his  educa- 
tion^— of  thefe  tivo  the  fir fl  is  principal.  —  Nature  mu/l  lay  the  foun- 
dation of  excelling  in  all  arts, — Of  the  difference  betivixt  the  phi- 
lofophy  of  the  Egyptians  and  that  of  the  Greek  philofophers,  as  to 
the  natural  dijhnclion  of  men. — The  Greek  philofophers  thought 
that  education  alone  was  fufficient  to  make  a  good  governing  man, 
— The  Priefis  of  Egypt  ivere  the  governing  men  there. — The  name 
ivhich  they  gave  themfelves : — They  ivere  kept  quite  diflinfl from  the 
refi  of  the  people, — had  the  cufiody  of  religion,  and  the  care  of  arts 
and  fciences.  — The/e  tivo  nccefjarily  connected. — Without  havinT 
cultivated  his  intelieclual faculties, .  no  man  can  have  a  jiifl  idea  of 
fupreme  intelligence. — The  rea/on  for  this. — Further  proofs  that 
there  is  a  natural  difference  of  men. — A  great  diflintlion  of  men  in 
India  in  antient  times. — This  is  fill  to  be  fcen  there. — This  dij- 
tinciion  of  men  every  ivhere  to  be  found , — even  in  the  neiv  df co- 
vered World  in  the  South  Sea, — No  do^rine  more  abfurd  than  that 
of  the  natural  eiuality  of  men. —  The  w.ojl  pernicious  doclrine  ivhen 
Vol.  IV.  C  c  applied 


202  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.     Book  II. 

applied  to  government, — Other  clajfes  of  men  in  Egypt ^  Jet  apart 
and  dijlinguijhed  from  the  reji.  —  And  frjl  the  military  chi/s, — 
Some  obfernjations  upon  that  cla/s.—  They  belong  to  the  id  order  of 
men  mentioned  by  Hefiod. — The  other  clajfes  conftjl  of  men  'who 
are  necejfary  in  every  Jlate,  beifig  fuch  as  provide  the  necefjaries 
of  life  for  the  people.  —  Difference  betivixt  Herodotus  and  Diodorus 
Siculus,  as  to  the  divifion  of  them.  —  To  make  the  diflinflion  of  men 
among  the  inferior  claffes^  a  matter  of  great  difficulty, — //  ivas  the 
•work  of  the  Dxmon  Kings  in  Egypt ^  voho  formed  the  polity  of  E- 
gypt.  —  This  polity  formed  before  the  expedition  of  0/iris  into  India, 
— not  the  vuork  of  any  of  the  human  Kings. — Providence  interpof- 
ed  to  promote  the  progrefs  of  men  tovuards  their  recovery  from 
their  fallen  flat  e,  by  the  improvement  of  their  intelledual faculties. 
— This  he  did  among  the  Jevos,  to  vohom  he  gave  a  lavu  and  con- 
Jlitution,  by  his  Angels  and  by  Mofes.  —  This  he  did  alfo  in  Egypt ^ 
but  not  in  fo  fignal  a  manner,  as  among  the  j^cws. — //  'was  pro- 
per that  a  difference  Jloould  be  made  betwixt  the  tzvo  nations. — Of 
the  education  in  Egypt. — -There  the  bejl  education  poffible;  for  it 
•was  dome/lie, — all  arts  and  fciences  there  hereditary,  and  continu- 
ally increafmg  from  generation  to  generation. — This  education  com- 
pared 'with  the  education  atnong  us,  and  the  education  among  the 
Greeks  and  Romatis. — Nature  and  Educalio7i  never  feparated  among 
the  Egyptians.  —  Where  that  feparation  is  made,  the  charaflers  of 
men  can  never  be  perfefl. — Of  the  manner  cf  living  of  the  Egypti- 
an Priefls. — This  too  qualified  them  to  excell  in  arts  and  fciences. — 
In  this  like'wife  very  different  from  men  of  fcience  in  other  coun- 
tries.—  It  'was  therefore  neceffary,  that  they  fjjould  excell  the 
Greeks  and  every  other  nation  in  arts  and  philofophy.—~The  Egyp- 
tians had  not  among  them  the  arts  of  poetry  and  rhetoric. — Nor 
did  they  cultivate  mufic  fo  much  as  the  Greeks  did,  as  it  ^vas  no 
art  of  pleafure  ainong  them. — Sculpture  and  painting  praflfed  a- 
mong  the  Egyptians,  but  tnore  cultivated  among  the  Greeks. — 7he 

Greek 


Chap.  X.      ANTIENT   METAPHYSICS.  203 

Greek  genius^  particularly  fuited  for  the  fine  arts. — Of  the  eleBion 
of  the  Kings  in  Egypt.  —  The  Priefts  there  ijuere  ele^ors,  —  but  had 
not  fo  great  poivcr  over  the  Kings,  as  the  Priefts  of  Ethiopia  had, 
though  the  Egyptians  ivere  a  colony  of  Ethiopians,  and  though 
there  ivas  a  great  fimilarity  of  ctifloms  and  manners  in  the  tzvo  nw 
iions. — Of  the  divifion  of  land  in  Egypt. 


HAVING  laid  fo  much  in  the  preceding  chapter  of  government 
in  general,  and  of  the  different  govermuents  of  different  na- 
tions, 1  come  now  to  fpcak  of  the  government  of  Egypt. 

That  Egypt  had  very  eorly  a  regular  form  of  government,  I 
think  I  have  proved  very  clearly,  as  early  as  the  days  of  Jofeph*. 
Nor  does  it  appear,  that  tliere  v^'as  in  any  other  country,  at  that 
time,  a  regular  form  of  polity  except  in  India ;  but  which,  I  (hall 
fhow  very  clearly  in  the  fequel,  came  from  Egypt :  And  this  being 
the  cafe,  it  is  evident,  that  this  great  and  mod  ufeful  art  of  go- 
vernment was  invented  in  Egypt,  as  well  as  the  other  arts  1  have 
mentioned. 

In  every  country,  where  there  is  a  regular  government,  there  muft 
be,  as  1  have  obferved,  two  orders  of  men  very  diffeient  from  one 
another,  the  governors  and  the  governed.  I  will  begin  with  the 
governors  of  Egypt,  the  moft  illuftrious  order  of  the  two,  and 
who,  if  they  are  not  men,  fuch  as  they  ought  to  be,  it  is  impoITible 
that  the  country  can  be  well  governed.  The  form  of  the  govern- 
ment in  Egypt  was  monarchical,  the  beft  of  all  forms,  as  I  think  I 
have  proved  it  to  be  :  And  that  this  was  the  opinion  of  the  people 
of  the  country,  who,  as  I  have  fhown,  were  efteemed  the  wifeft  of 
all   the  antient  nations,  Herodotus  tells  us,  when  he  fays,  that  the 

C  c  2  Egyptians 

*  Page  132.  of  this  volume. 


204  ANTIENT   METAPHYSICS.     Book  11. 

Egyptians  would  never  be  without  a  King*.  This  King  was  chofen 
out  of  the  mihtaty  clafs  of  men  among  the  Egyptians.  But  he  was 
intrufted  only  with  the  executive  part  of  the  government.  And 
there  was  a  higher  clals  of  men  ftill,  who  were  his  counfellors  and 
who,  at  the  fame  time,  were  trufted  with  the  religion  of  the  country, 
that  moft  eflential  part  of  government :  And  to  them  alfo  was  in- 
trufted the  cultivation  of  arts  and  fciences. 

The  excellency  of  every  man  in  every  art  and  fcience  depends 
upon  two  things,  his  natural  genius,  and  liis  education.  Of  thefe 
two,  I  hold  nature  to  be  the  firft  and  fundamental  quality  :  For  if 
nature  has  not  laid  the  foundation  in  every  art,  and  particularly  in 
the  great  art  of  government,  no  education  or  culture  can  make  a 
man  excel  in  it. 

And  here  we  may  obferve  the  difference  betwixt  the  ivifdom,  or 
l\it  philofophy,  as  the  word  ought  to  be  tranflated  t,  of  the  Egypti- 
ans, which  Mofes  learned,  and  the  philofophy  of  the  Greeks :  For 
the  Greek  philofophers,  fuch  as  Plato  and  Ariftotie,  who  write  up- 
on government,  fpeak  fo  much  of  the  education  of  the  governors, 
and  fo  little  of  their  nature  and  genius,  that  one  fliould  think  they 
believed,  that  education  alone  was  fufficient  to  make  a  governing 
■man.  And  Plato  is  fo  far  from  thinking  that  there  was  any  difference 
of  natures  among  men,  or,  if  there  was  any,  that  it  ought  to  be 
preferved,  that  he  makes  it  an  effential  part  of  his  polity,  that  the 
wives  and  children  of  his  citizens  fhould  be  common;  So  that  every 
diftindion  betwixt  the  races  of  men  muft  in  his  fyftem  have  been 
deftroyed.     In  this,  however,  his  fcholar  Ariftotie  differs  from  him, 

but 

*  Lib.  2.  cap.  147.  Ed.  Weflelingli. 

f  Afls  of  the  Apoftles  chap.  7.  v.  22.     The  Greek  word  is   ^of;«,  which  fignifics 
philcfiphy,  not  what  we  call  wi/dom,  that  is  prudence  in  the  conduct  of  life. 


€hap.  X.      ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  205 

but  for  other  reafons,  not  that  of  confounding  the  races  of  men*. 
The  opinion  of  the  Egyptians  was  very  different ;  for  they  made 
nature  principal  and  fundamental  in  the  art  of  government,  as  well 
as  in  other  arts.  For  this  reafon  they  fet  apart  and  diftinguifhed 
from  the  reft  of  the  people,  with  whom  they  did  not  intermix  by 
marriages,  a  race  of  men  who  were  called  by  the  Greeks  the  Priefts 
of  Egypt,  becaufe  they  had  the  charge  of  that  principal  part  of  govern- 
ment,— religion.  But  their  name  in  the  country  was,  as  Herodotus 
tells  us,  nyp^(f  f,  which,  as  he  interpets  it,  fignifies  xa.Xoi;xccya.So;, 
that  is  a  man  who  has  worth  and  goodnefs,  and  at  the  fame  time, 
.a  high  fenfe  of  what  is  beautiful  and  becoming  in  fentiments  and 
adions,  without  which  no  charader  can  be  perfed.  Thefe  nien, 
thus  deftined  by  God  and  nature  to  govern  by  their  councils  their 
fellow  creatures,  being  fet  apait  from  the  reft  of  the  people,  were 
the  counfellors  of  the  King?,  that  is,  they  were  the  ivijliom  of  the 
nation.     At  the  fame  time,  they  had  the  care  of   religion,  without 

which 

•  De  Republica.  Lib.  2.  in  initio I  am  fufprifed  that  Ariftotle,  in  tliis  work  upon 

government,  fliould  give  no  preference  to  birth  in  the  government  of  a  ftate,  when 
he  has  faid,  in  his  7th  Book  De  Republica  cap.  13.  that  the  goodnefs  of  men  depends 
upon  three  things,  nature,  cujlom  or  hahity  and  reafon.  Now,  that  the  parents  of 
whom  men  are  produced,  muft  have  a  great  influence  upon  their  nature,  he  has  told 
us  in  fo  many  words,  where  he  fays,  that  nobility  is  the  virtue  of  the  race.  (Ibid.  Lib. 
3.  Cap.  13.)  Aod  as  I  have  obfcrved  (p.  184.  of  this  volume)  the  word  which  the 
Greeks  have  for  Nobility,  viz.  tuyifna,  implies  that.  Yet  in  the  conftitution  of  his  beft 
government,  which  he  calls  voXtrua,  he  makes  no  diftin£lion  of  men  according  to  their 
birth,  nor  gives  any  pre-eminence  to  the  virtue  of  the  race  :  And  in  his  long  chapter 
upon  marriage,  (Lib.  8.  Cap.  16.)  he  fays  nothing  about  preventing  the  mixture  of 
the  better  races  of  men  with  the  worfe. 

■f-  I  think,  it  is  not  unlikely,  that  the  name  Bramin,  which  the  Indians  give  to  their 
Priefts  and  philoibphers,  may  be  a  corruption  of  the  word  n^^afifs :  For  by  changing  the 
jT  into  another  labial  confonant,  viz.  /3,  which  is  a  change  very  common,  the  word  be- 
comes Bv^iixii,  and  by  leaving  out  the  vowel  v,  which  is  alfo  not  uncommon  in  lan- 
guages that  pafs  from  one  country  to  another,  the  word  becomes  Boufm.  And  La 
Croze,  iu  his  Hiftory  of  the  Chriftianity  of  India,  has  informed  us,  that,  in  the  Iflaad 
of  Ceylon,  they  are  called  by  a  name  which  comes  ftill  nearer  to  the  word  Bramin. 


2o6  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.       Book  11. 

which  no  people  can  be  well  governed  or  happy  ;  and  to  their  care 
were  likewife  committed  arts  and  faiences,  without  which,  as  I  have  ob- 
ferved  in  more  than  one  place,  it  is  impoflible  that  man  can  m.ake  any 
confiderable  progrefs  in  this  life  towards  recovering  his  former  ftate, 
as  that  can  only  be  by  the  improvement  of  his  intelledual  faculty, 
which  is  of  the  eflence  of  man,  and  without  which  he  can  have  no 
jufl  idea  of  fupreme  intelligence,  nor  confequently  be  truly  religi- 
ous. For  this  I  have  given  a  very  good  reafon,  which  is,  that  men 
in  the  uncivilized  ftate,  or  even  in  the  firft  age  of  civility,  cannot  be' 
philofophers  enough  to  know  themfclves:  For  as  man  is  made  after 
the  image  of  God,  and  is  the  only  image  of  him  upon  this  eaith,  it 
'  is  by  the  ftudy  of  himfelf  only  that  a  man  can  have  any  idea  of  the 
fupreme  being:  And,  therefore,  1  have  faid,  that  nations  in  the  rude 
ftate  of  fociety,  which  have  got  any  idea  of  a  God,  muft  have  got 
it  from  other  nations,  more  advanced  in  civility  and  arts  *. 

In  this   manner   was  the   beft    race    of   men    in    Egypt    dlftin- 
guifhed   and  feparaied   from   the   refl   of  the  people.     And    here, 
though   I   have   faid   a   good   deal    in    the    preceding    chapter    up- 
on the  natural  difference  of  men,  I  will   add   fomelhing   more  up- 
on the  fubje(f^.     The  mofl:  antient  nation   at   prefent   in   the  world, 
now  that  the  Egyptian  is  no  more,  is  the  Indian.     There,  Ariftotle 
tells  us,  upon  the  authority  of  an  author  he  calls   Scylax,  that   the 
Princes   of  India  were   as   much   fuperior    to  the  other  men  of  the 
country,  both  in  mind  and  body,  as  the  Greeks  fuppofed  their  Gods 
and   heroes   to  have  been  to  other  ment:    And  I  was  informed  by 
a  man,  who  had  been  much  in  the   inland   parts  of  India,  that  at 
this  day  their  Rajahs,  or  Princes,  are  handfomer,  of  larger  fize,  and 
more  dignified  appearance,  than  the  reft  of  the  people.  And  the  Bra- 
mins,  being  the  beft  race  of  men  in  India,  as  the  Egyptian  Priefts 
were  the  beft  race  there,  are   eafily  diftinguifhed   from   the   reft  of 

the 
•  Page  153.  and  following  of  this  volume, 

f  De  Republica.  Lib.  7.  Cap.  14. 


Chap.  X.     A  N  T  I  E  N  T  M  E  T  A  P  H  Y  S  I  C  S.  207 

the  people  by  their  lock,  their  figure,  and  appearance.  And  I  am 
perfuaded,  that,  in  Britain,  and  in  every  other  part  of  Europe,  a 
man  of  rank  and  family  was,  fome  hundred  years  ago,  as  readily 
known  at  firft  fight,  as  a  horfe  of  blood  is  now.  And  this  natural 
diftindion  of  men,  appears  to  be  known  in  every  country  on  earth  : 
For  in  the  New  World,  which  Captain  Cook  has  difcovered  in  the 
South  Sea,  the  ranks  of  men  are  as  much  diftinguifhed,  by  their  fize 
and  figure,  as  ever  they  were  at  any  time  in  Europe.  Bouganville, 
the  French  traveller,  fays,  that  the  Nobles  in  Ottaheite  are  fo  much 
diftinguillied  in  that  way  from  the  Tootoos,  or  lower  fort  of  peo- 
ple, that  he  is  inclined  to  believe  them  to  be  of  a  different  nation. 
And  Captain  King,  in  the  third  volume  of  Captain  Cook's  laft  voyage*, 
fpeaking  of  the  Erees,  or  chiefs  of  the  Sandwich  Ifles,  fays,  '  The  fame 
'  fuperiority,  that  is  obfervable  in  the  perfons  of  Erees  through  all 
'  the  other  iflands,  is  alfo  found  here.  Thofe,  whom  we  faw,  were, 
'  without  exception,  perfedly  well  formed ;  whereas,  the  lower 
'  fort,  befides  their  general  inferiority,  are  fubjedt  to  all  the  variety 
'  of  make  and  figure  that  is  feen  in  the  populace  of  other  countries. 
'  Inftances  of  deformity  are  more  frequent  here  than  in  any  of  the 
'  other  iflands.'  Then  he  proceeds  to  mention  fome  particular  in- 
ftances  of  deformity  among  them.  And  Mr  Matra,  who  accompanied 
Captain  Cook  in  his  firft  voyage,  and  whom  I  have  elfewhere  men- 
tioned t,  as  one  who  had  looked  with  a  difcerning  eye  upon  men,  and 
had  ftudiedwith  particular  attention  manners  and  characters,  aflures  me 
that  the  leading  men  in  all  the  iflands  where  he  was,  had  fomething  in 
their  appearance,  their  voice,  and  manner,  which  diftinguiflied  them 
from  the  reft  of  the  people  fo  much,  that  it  was  obferved  even  by 
the  common  failors  aboard  the  fhip,  who   knew   them  immediately 

to 

•  Page  126. 

t  In  Origin  of  Language,  Vol.  V.  p.  213. ;  alfo  in  the  introdudlion  to  Vol.  VI.  p 
4.  Where  the  man  I  mention,  who  gave  me  an  account  of  the  eloquence  of  the  Ne^' 
Zealanders,  is  the  dmc  Mr  Matra,  now  our  conful  at  Morrocco. 


2o8  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.     Book  II. 

to  be  governing  men.  Captain  King,  ia  the  paffage  above  quoted, 
informs  us,  that  the  lower  fort  cf  people  in  the  Sandwich  iflands, 
befides  their  inferiority  in  fize  and  fliape,  are  liable  to  feveral  dif- 
eafes  from  which  the  Erees  are  free.  And,  according  to  his  ac- 
count, they  have  no  complaint  but  what  is  brought  upon  them  by 
the  ufe  of  that  dreadful  liquor,  which  unhappily  they  have  difco- 
veredj  and  appears  to  be  worfe  than  even  our  brandy.  It  is  called 
ava.  With  refped  to  health,  it  may  be  obferved,  that  w'lat 
Captain  King  fays  of  the  greater  health  of  the  men'  of  diftinc- 
tion  in  thofe  iflands,  is,  I  believe,  true  of  men  of  birth  every  where, 
if  they  live  as  they  ought  to  do  ;  for  I  hold  it  to  be  one  of  the  cha- 
ra£leriftics  of  the  noble  race  among  men,  that  they  are  healthier  and 
longer  lived,  if  they  do  not  hurt  themfelves  by  an  improper  way 
of  living,  than  the  reft  of  the  people.  And  this,  I  think,  is  the 
neceffary  confequence  of  their  natural  fuperiority  in  fize  and  fhape. 
The  fame  I  hold  to  be  true  of  horfes  of  blood,  who,  according 
to  my  obfervation,  when  they  are  properly  ufed,,  are  healthier  and 
longer  lived  than  other  horfes,  and  can  even  endure  more  ill  iilage. 
In  {hoit,  I  think  that  the  natural  equality  0/  men,  of  which  wc 
have  heard  fo  much  of  late,  is  one  of  the  moft  abfurd  dodrines 
(hat  ever  was  maintained,  contrary  both  to  the  reafon  of  the 
thing,  to  fad,  and  to  the  general  fenfe  of  mankind  :  and  when 
applied  to  government,  and  made  the  foundation  of  the  political 
fyftem,  leads  to  the  moft  pernicious  confequences  ;  of  which  we 
have  at  prefent  a  moft  melancholy  example  before  our  eyes  in 
France.  If  the  philofophers  there,  who,  lam  perfuaded,  laid  the 
foundation  of  all  the  mifchief  that  has  happened  in  that  country, 
had  been  truly  philofophers,  as  they  call  themfelves,  or  had  been 
learned  enough  to  know  the  hiftory  of  man,  they  would  have 
known,  not  only  that  equality  was  not  efl!ential  to  government, 
but  that,  on  the  contrary,  all  government  was  originally  founded 
upon  the  inequality  of  men,  by  which   fome  men  were  much  fupe- 

rior 


Chap.  X,     A  N  T  I  E  N  T  M  E  T  A  P  H  Y  S  I  C  S.  209 

rior  to  others,  both  in  mind  and  body;  without  which  it  does  not  ap- 
pear to  me  that  any  government  on  earth  was  ever  formed  or  could 
have  been  formed. — But  to  return  to  the  government  of  Egypt. 

There  not  only  the  counfellors  of  ftate,  the  cuftodiers  of  religion, 
and  the  cultivators  of  arts  and  fciences,  were  fet  apart  and  diftin- 
guiflied  from  the  reft  of  the  people  ;  but  there  were,  in  like  man- 
ner, four  other  clafles,  piofeffing  different  arts,  who  did  not  mingle 
with  one  another,  but  kept  their  races  pure  and  unmixed.  The 
firft  of  thefe  four  was  the  military  clafs,  who  came  very  properly 
next  in  order  after  the  counfellors  of  the  ftate,  which,  as  it  was  go- 
verned by  their  councils,  fo  it  was  proteded  and  guarded  by  the 
arms  of  the  military  men.  Thefe  1  hold  to  belong  to  the  fecond 
divifion  of  men  uientioned  by  Hefiod,  who,  though  they  cannot 
give  good  advice,  are  willing  to  take  it ;  for  obedience  to  the  or- 
ders of  his  officer  is  eflential  to  the  charader  of  a  foldier.  And 
he  ought  to  be  convinced,  that  what  he  is  ordered  to  do  by  his  offi- 
cers, is  the  beft  thing  he  could  do;  for  otherwife  he  will  not  obey 
willingly,  but  will  be  governed,  like  the  third  clafs  of  men  men- 
tioned by  Hefiod,  by  fear  and  dread  of  punifhment,  in  the  manner 
that  fldves  are  governed;  but  which  is  unworthy  of  the  noble 
mind  of  a  foldier.  As  to  the  General  of  an  army,  he  ought  to  be, 
with  refped  to  military  operations,  of  the  lirft  clafs  of  men  men- 
tioned by  Hefiod,  who  know  what  is  beft,  and  therefore  can  give 
good  advice. 

But  the  Egyptian  legillators  did  not  ftop  here.  And,  indeed,  it 
was  neceflary  that  men  fliould  be  provided,  who  were  to  procure 
for  the  reft  of  the  people  the  neceflaries  and  conveniences  of  life. 
For  this  purpofe,  too,  they  thought  that  fome  men  were  better  qua- 
lified than  others,  as  well  as  for  government  and  the  profeffion  of 
arms.  And,  in  general,  it  appears,  they  believed  not  only  that  all 
Vol.  IV.  D  d  men 


2IO  ANTIENT   METAPHYSICS.    Book  II. 

men  were  not  fitted  by  nature  for  all  things,  but  that  every  man 
was  born  more  fitted  for  one  thing  than  for  another  ;  which  I  am 
perfuaded  is  the  cafe.  There  were,  therefore,  befides  the  Prlefts 
and  the  foldiers,  a  third  clafs  of  hufbandmen,  a  fourth  of  fhep- 
herds,  and  a  fifth  of  handicraftfmen.  This  is  the  divifion  of  the 
people  of  Egypt,  which  Diodorus  Siculus  has  given  us  *. 

And  here  a  qucftion  will  naturally  occur,  By  what  means  fuch 
a  divifion  of  men  was  made,  by  which  diftin£t  and  feparate  clafles 
of  men  were  iet  apart  for  the  different  occupations  of  life?  That 
the  men  deftined  by  nature  to  govern  their  fellow  creatures,  might 
be  difcovered  even  among  herds  of  men,  by  their  look,  their  figure, 
and  appearance,  and  by  fuperior  qualities  of  mind  as  well  as  of 
body,  1  have  fhown  elfewhere ;  and  that  in  this  way  the  Greek  he- 
roes, and  founders  of  ftates,  became  Kings  and  rulers.  But  how 
were  a  whole  people  divided  and  affigned  to  different  occupations, 
for  which   they  were  by  nature  fuited  ?    A  man,  who  by  nature  is 

deftined 

*  Herodotus  has  made  the  number  of  claffes  greater,  altogether  feven ;  namely, 
Priefts,  Soldiers,  Cattle  herds,  Swine  herds,  Merchants,  Interj^ reters,  and  Pilots  :  (Lib. 
2.  Cap.  164.)  As  Herodotus  was  in  the  country  much  earlier  than  Diodorus,  and  when 
we  mufl;  fnppofe  that  the  antient  conftitution  of  Egypt  was  better  preferved  than  in 
later  times,  I  Ihould  be  inclined  to  think,  that  his  divifion  was  more  accurate  than  that 
of  Diodorus.  But  I  cannot  account  for  Herodotus  omitting  the  hufbandmen,  or  til- 
lers of  the  ground  ;  who  are  the  moft  ufeful  of  all  the  inferior  orders  of  men,  and 
therefore,  are  very  proix;rly  ranked  by  Diodorus  next  the  fighting  men.  Neither 
can  I  account  for  Herodotus  omitting  altogether  thofe  who  praftifed  mechanic  arts. 
If  there  were  any  doubt  in  this  matter,  I  think  it  is  removed  by  the  praflice  of  India 
to  which  the  divifion  of  men,  into  different  claiTes,  or  cofis,  as  the  Indians  call  them 
Was  brought  by  the  Egyptians.  Now  the  hufbandmen,  or  tillers  of  the  ground,  are 
there  a  caft  by  themfelves  ;  and  the  feveral  mechanics  form  ^o  many  different  carts. 
And  Diodorus  Siculus  tells  us,  that  in  India,  in  his  time,  the  farmers  were  a  very 
numerous  clafs  of  people,  and  very  much  refpefled  even  by  nations  that  were  at  war 
■with  one  another:  For  it  was  a  rule  among  them,  not  to  do  any  hurt  to  the  farmers 
or  their  pofTe (lions.— (Diodorus,  Lib.  2.  Cap.  41.) 


Chap.  X.     ANTIENTMETAPHYSrCS.  an 

deftined  to  be  a  King  or  governing  man,  may  be  difcovered  by  the 
sth{  a^iov  Tv^ani/idog  of  Euripides,  or  by  the  forma  principe  viro  di^- 
na,  of  Tacitus:  But  how  are  we  to  difcriminate  the  farmer  frooi 
the  (hepherd  or  from  the  mechanic  ?  And  I  fay  it  was  the  Daemon 
Kings  of  Egypt,  that  made  this  diftin£tion  of  men,  and  eftablifhed 
a  form  of  Pohty  altogether  fingular,  and  unknown  in  any  other 
country  of  the  world  except  India,  to  which  it  was  carried  by  the 
Egyptians  with  their  other  arts.  That  this  polity  was  eftablifhed 
in  Hgypt,  before  the  expedition  of  Ofiris  into  India,  I  think,  is 
evident;  For  we  cannot  believe,  that  he  eftablillxed  there  a  polity 
unknown  in  his  own  country,  or  that  he  could  have  fitted  out  fuch 
an  army,  and  carried  it  to  fo  diftant  a  part  of  the  world,  from  a 
country  that  was  not  highly  civilized,  and  had  not  a  regular  form 
of  government.  I  hold,  therefore,  that  as  Ofiris  was  of  the  lafl: 
of  the  three  races  of  the  Egyptian  Dsemon  Kings,  the  polity  of  E- 
gypt  was  formed  by  the  two  firft  races,  with  fome  additions,  per- 
haps, that  Ofiris  may  have  made  to  it :  For  that  it  was  not  formed 
under  Menes,  or  any  of  the  human  Kings,  is  evident  from  all  the 
antient  authors,  who  fpeak  of  Egypt.  Some  of  thefe  Kings,  we 
are  told,  made  fome  laws  for  the  adminiflration  of  juftice;  but  no 
author  has  given  the  leaft  hint,  that  any  of  them  framed  a  conftitu- 
tion  of  government  for  the  country. 

That  the  reftoration  of  man  to  his  primitive  ftate,  which,  I  think, 
I  have  fhown,  could  only  be  carried  on  in  this  life  by  the  eftablifh- 
ment  of  civil  fociety,  (hould  be  the  peculiar  care  of  providence,  no 
body  can  doubt,  who  believes  that  a  wife  and  good  God  exifts. 
And  the  moft  natural  way  that  this  event  could  be  brought  about, 
was  by  fending  among  men  fuperior  beings  in  the  human  form, 
who  were  to  teach  them  arts,  and  eftablifh  a  political  fociety  among 
them. 

D  d  2  That 


212  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.      Book  II. 

That  in  this  way  there  was  one  people  inftruded  from  Heaven, 
our  facred  records  aflure  us ;  I  mean  the  Jews,  who,  after  they  came 
out  of  Egypt,  were  guided  and  direded  in  every  thing  by  minifters 
feni  from  Heaven.  Thefe  appeared  to  Mofes  in  the  human  form, 
and  even  to  the  whole  people,  from  the  top  of  mount  Sinai,  in  fire 
and  fmoke ;  and  a  voice  was  alfo  heard  from  that  mountain,  pro- 
claiming the  law  of  the  ten  commandments.  And  they  received 
alfo  from  Heaven  a  religion,  and  a  form  of  polity,  which  was  com- 
municated to  them  by  the  fame  Mofes.  The  neceflary  arts  of  life 
they  had  learned  in  Egypt.  But  fome  of  the  fine  arts,  by  which 
the  tabernacle  was  adorned,  we  are  told  that  they  learned  from 
Heaven  ;  for  it  is  faid,  that  God  inftrudled  the  artificers  of  that 
tabernacle.  Now,  I  believe,  what  St  Paul  tells  us,  that  God  is  not 
the  God  of  the  Jeivs  onlj,  but  alfo  of  the  Gentiles  :  And,  there- 
fore, I  think  it  is  reafonable  to  fuppofe,  that  he  would  fend  his  mi- 
nifters to  inftrudt  the  Egyptians  as  well  as  the  Jews,  efpecially  if  it 
be  true,  as  I  think  it  is,  that  from  Egypt  arts  and  fciences  were  to 
be  propagated  all  over  the  earth.  And  we  are  told  that  even  Mofes 
brought  with  him  from  Egypt  the  iviflom^  or,  as  it  (hould  be  called, 
the  philofophy  of  the  Egyptians  *.  To  fuppofe,  therefore,  that  the 
Egyptians  were  inftruded  in  the  fupernatural  way  I  have  mention- 
ed, is  not  only  agreeable  to  what  philofophy  teaches  us  to  believe 
was  the  fyftem  of  Providence  for  the  reftoration  of  man,  but  to  our 
facred  writings,  which  give  us  an  example  of  a  people  being  in- 
ftru£led  in  the  fame  way,  and  by  a  more  prefent  deity  than  that 
which  inftruQed  the  Egyptians.  Nor  is  it  to  be  wondered,  that  God 
fhould  interpofe  in  a  more  confpicuous  manner  in  behalf  of  his 
chofen  people  the  Jews,  from  whom  was  to  come  the  Meffiah,  the 
Saviour  of  the  world,  by  fending  his  Angels  to  inftruct  them,  not 
employing  Demons  as  he  did  among  the  Egyptians.  But  thefe 
were  fufficient  to  give  the  Egyptians  an  admirable  form  of  govern- 
ment, 

•  See  p.  204.  of  this  volume. 


Chap.  X.     A  N  T  I  E  N  T  M  E  T  A  P  H  Y  S  I  C  S.  215 

ment,  and  to  inftru£b  them  in  arts  and  fciences,  which,  it  appears 
to  have  been  the  will  of  heaven,  fliould  be  propagated  all  over  the 
world  from  Egypt,  So  that  we  are  not  to  wonder,  that  Providence 
interpofed  in  behalf  of  Egypt  by  fending  Daemons  among  thpm, 
not  Angels,  to  govern  them. 

And  thus,  I  think,  I  have  fhown,  that,  as  far  as  nature  could  go, 
the  Egyptian  polity  was  the  moft  perfedl  of  any  that  ever  exifted. 
But  as  education  is  necelfary  both  to  make  good  governors  and  good 
fubjeds,  I  will  next  inquire  concerning  the  education  in  Egypt : 
And  I  think  I  fhall  be  able  to  fliow,  that,  in  this  refpedl  alfo,  the 
Egyptian  government  was  the  bed  that  ever  exlfted.  That  the  do- 
meftic  education  under  a  father  is  the  beft  of  all  educations,  if  the 
father  be  a  man  who  is  able  to  inftruct  his  child,  cannot  1  think  be 
doubted ;  for  both  the  teacher  will  be  more  anxious  to  inflrudt  his 
child,  than  we  can  fuppofe  any  other  teacher  will  be,  and  the  child 
will  more  readily  receive  inftrudlions  from  the  parent  than  from  any 
other,  and  will  get  it  too  more  conftanily  and  frequently  than  he 
could  do  from  any  other  teacher.  Now,  in  this  way,  all  the  chil- 
dren of  Egypt  were  educated;  and  all  the  feveral  clafles  were  in- 
(Irudcd  in  their  different  arts  and  profeffiona.  In  this  way  their 
wife  men  and  philofophers  were  taught  the  feveral  arts  and  fciences, 
which  therefore  may  be  faid  to  have  been  hereditary  among  them, 
as  our  lands  and  money  are  among  us.  And,  if  fo,  I  think  it 
was  neceffary,  that  they  fliould  go  on  increafing  from  generation  to 
generation.  Now,  let  us  compare  this  way  of  teaching  arts  and 
fciences  with  our  fchool  or  college  education,  or  even  with  the  edu- 
cation among  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  which,  I  think,  in  fome  re- 
fpeds  was  worfe  than  even  our  education  ;  for  among  them  they 
had  no  public  fchools,  except  for  grammar,  mufic,  and  athletic  exer- 
cifes.  But,  as  to  fciences,  and  particularly  as  to  philofophy,  which 
contains  the  principles  of  all  arts  and  fciences,  there  was  no  fchool 

by 


214  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.     Book  II. 

by  public  authority  in  which  they  were  taught.  It  is  true,  that 
there  were  men  among  the  Greeks,  who  were  great  philofophers, 
and  were  willing  to  communicate  their  difcoveries  to  any  who  chofe 
to  be  their  hearers.  But  they  had  no  encouragement  from  the  pub- 
lic, nor  was  any  man  obliged  to  be  their  fcholar.  So  that  it  is  true 
what  Diodorus  Siculus  obferves,  that,  in  Greece,  it  was  by  accident 
if  a  man  happened  to  get  a  tafte  for  philofophy,  that  he  applied  to 
it.  And,  not  only  were  the  philofophers  in  Egypt  taught  in  the 
way  I  have  defcribed,  but  every  art  and  profeffion,  even  the  mean- 
eft  and  moft  illiberal :  So  that  I  have  no  doubt,  that  even  thefe  arts 
in  Egypt  were  carried  to  the  greateft  perfedion.  There  was  one  of 
them,  which  is  reckoned  a  great  curiofity  among  us,  the  hatching 
of  chickens  and  other  birds  without  the  incubation  of  the  female. 
This  was  practifed  in  Egypt,  and  muft  have  very  much  increaf- 
ed  the  breed  of  fowls. 

Thus  it  appears,  that  nature  in  Egypt  was  always  affifted  by  edu- 
cation ;  and,  indeed,  they  ought  never  to  be  feparated  :  Otherwife 
there  will  be  nothing  perfect  in  the  charaders  of  men.  And  it  is  the 
want  of  the  union  of  thefe  two,  that  is  the  great  imperfe£tion  in  all 
the  governments  we  know,  or  have  heard  of,  except  the  Egyptian, 
or  Indian,  which  was  derived  from  it.  And  this  is  one  of  the  prin- 
cipal  reafons,  among  others,   which  makes  me  think  the  Egyptian 

polity  not  only  the  beft  that  ever  exifted,  but  better  than  any  of 
thofe  imaginary  polities  that  have  been  devifed  by  philofophers, 
fuch  as  thofe  of  Plato  and  Ariftotle. 

Having  faid  fo  much  of  the  education  of  the  people  of  Egypt,  it 
will  be  proper  to  add  fomething  concerning  their  manner  of  living, 
and  to  inquire  whether  that  was  fit  to  make  them  excel  in  their 
feveral  arts  and  profeffions.  And,  firft,  as  to  their  priefts  and  phi- 
lofophers, they    had   every   thing  furniflied   to  them,  which  they 

wanted. 


Chap.  X.      ANTIENTMETAPHYSICS.  215. 

wanted,  by  the  public,  out  of    that  portion  of  the  land  which   was 
fet  apart  for  religion.     The  philofnphers,  therefore,  of  Egypt  were 
freed  from  all  care  and  folicitude  about  money,  which,  as  it  is  well 
known,  employs  the   thoughts  oi   fo  many  men   at  prefent  in  Eu- 
rope, and    indeed   I   may   iay  of  evrry   man   more   or   lefs  :     And 
which,   of  neceflity,   muft  divert  the  mind,  in  fome  degree  at  leaft, 
even  of  the  moft  ftudious  among  us,  from   the   cultivation   of  arts 
and  fciences.     The  diet  of  the  Priefts,   as  Herodotus  has  defcnbed 
it,  was  of  the  beft  kind ;  for  they  were  allowed  Reih,  and  alfo  drank 
wine  :    But,  we  know,  they  ufed  both  in  great  moderation.     Then 
they    had    the   enjoyment   of  leifure,    without   which    it   is   impof- 
fible  that  any  man  can  excel  in   any  art   or   icience ;  for   there   was 
no  particular  office  of  the  ftare  which   they  difcharged,   other   than 
that  fome  of  them  attended  upon  the  King,  giving  him  council  and 
diredlion  in  the  management  of  the  affairs  of  the  nation.    That  men 
fo   living,  and   fo   educated,   fhould    excel   in  philolbphy  and  every 
fcience  to  which   they  applied,  i   think   was  of  abfolute   neceflity, 
even  if  they  had  not  been  men  of  fuperior  genius  and  natural  parts  j 
which,  however,  it  is  certain  that  they  were.    They  muft,.  therefore, 
have  excelled  the  Greeks  and  every  (  ther  nation   of  thofe    days,  in 
philofophy  and  every  art  and  fcience,  to  which  they  applied.      We 
need   not  wonder,  therefore,   that   the  Greeks  got  arts  and  fciences 
from  them  in  the  carlieft  times;  and  that  in  later  times,  when  they 
applied  to  philofophy,   what  they  had    moft   valuable   of   that   kind 
came  from  Egypt,  as,  I  think,  I  have  very  clearly  Ihown  in  the  pre- 
face to  the  third  volume  of  this  work. 

But,  though  the  Egyptians  appear  to  have  cuhivated  every  branch 
of  fcience,  there  were  fome  arts  which  they  did  not  at  all  cultivate, 
and  others  that  they  did  not  cultivate  near  fo  much  as  the  Greeks. 
It  does  not  appear  that  they  had  any  poetry  at  all :  And  as  to 
rhetoricj  it  could  not  exift  in  a  government  of  which  the  peo- 
ple 


2)6  A  NTIENT  METAPHYSICS.     Book  IF. 

pie  had  no  fhare.  Mufic  they  ftudied  and  pradifed  :  And,  I 
think,  there  is  no  doubt,  that  the  Greeks  learned  from  them  to  car- 
ry their  tetrachord,  which  was  their  moft  antient  mufic  rifing  no  high- 
er than  a  fourth,  up  to  the  odave,  and  fo  to  compleat  the  diatonic 
fcale.  But  mufic  was  not  ufed  among  the  Egyptians,  as  it  was  a- 
mong  the  Greeks,  for  pleafure  and  entertainment;  but  was  confined 
to  the  ufe  of  religion  :  And,  therefore,  no  alteration  or  innovation 
was  allowed  in  it  any  more  than  in  their  religion.  Whereas  among 
the  Greeks  it  appears  to  have  been  one  of  their  greateft  pleafures, 
and  a  neceffary  part  of  another  pleafure  of  theirs,  of  which  the 
Greeks,  and  particularly  the  Athenians,  were  exceedingly  fond  ;  I 
mean  theatrical  reprefentations,  but  of  which  there  were  none  in  E- 
gypt.  I  am  perfuaded,  therefore,  that  the  Egyptian  mufic  was 
much  more  fimple  thaa  the  Greek  ;  and  that  they  ufed  neither  the 
chromatic  fcale  of  mufic,  nor  the  enharmonic,  by  which  the  tone 
was  divided  into  three  and  into  four  parts,  but  ufed  only  the  di- 
atonic fcale.  Nor  had  they"  thofe  divifions  of  mufic  into  different 
moods,  called  Ionic,  Phrygian,  and  Dorian.  Sculpture  and  Painting 
were  praQifed  in  Egypt  ;  and,  I  am  perfuaded,  the  Greeks  got 
thofe  two  arts  from  that  country,  as  well  as  every  other;  but  they 
improved  them  very  much.  And,  in  general,  they  appear  to  have 
been  formed  by  nature  for  the  cultivation  and  improvement  of  what 
we  call  the  fme  arts,  that  isj  arts  of  elegant  pleafuie:  And,  accord- 
ingly, in  thefe  they  excelled  mankind. 

As  a  King  was  a  neceffary  part  of  the  government  of  Egypt,  it  is 
proper  that  1  fliould  fpeak'of  the  eledion  of  their  Kings;  a  fubjecfl 
on  which  I  find  nothing  vi'ritten  in  any  author  antient  or  modern. 
That  the  royalty  was  hereditary  in  any  family,  there  is  no  reafon 
to  believe.  The  King,  therefore,  mud  have  been  elected  :  And  it 
would  no  doubt  happen,  that  if  the  fon  of  the  preceding  King  was 
thought  worthy,  he  would  be  eleded ;  and,  accordingly,  there  are 
many  examples   in   the   hiflory  of  Egypt,  given   by  Herodotus,  of 

Kings 


Chap.  X.     ANTIENTMETAPHYSICS.  217 

Kings  being  fucceedcd  by  their  fons.  The  queftion,  therefore,  is. 
Who  were  the  eledors  ?  That  he  was  not  elected  by  any  aflembly 
of  the  people  is  evident ;  for  there  were  no  affemblies  of  the  people 
in  Egypt  for  any  purpofe  whatever.  Neither  was  there  in  Egypt 
any  body  of  men,  that  might  be  called  a  fenate,  diftin£l  from  the 
Priefts,  that  is,  the  counfellors  of  ftate :  And  If  fo,  I  think  it  is  evi- 
dent, that  the  Priefts,  or  wife  men  of  the  nation,  muft  have  been 
the  eledore ;  and,  indeed,  there  were  no  men  fo  fit  for  that  bufmefs. 
One  thing  is  certain,  that,  as  Plato  informs  us,  it  was  neceflary,  that 
every  King,  before  he  entered  upon  the  exercife  of  his  office,  (hould 
be  admitted  into  the  oider  of  the  Priefts.  This,  I  think,  muft  have 
given  them  a  negative  in  the  eledion  of  every  King,  by  whomfoever 
chofen.  There  was  one  of  the  Kings,  who  was  himfelf  a  Prieft ; 
I  mean  the  Prieft  of  Vulcan.  Now  he  could  not,  I  think,  have 
been  eleded,  except  by  the  Priefts  themfelves. 

But   though    I   be   of  opinion  that  the  King  was  ele£led  by  the 
Priefts  of  Egypt,  it  does  not  appear  that  he  was  fo  much  under  their 
power,  as  the  King  of  Ethiopia  was  under  the  power  of  the  Priefts 
there,  who,  if  the  King  difpleafed  them,  might  fend  to  him,  to  let 
him  know,   that  he  was  not  only  to  refign  his  crown,   but   alfo   his 
life»  and  to  go  out   of  the  world  by  his  own  hand.     At  the  fame 
time,  as   the   Egyptians  were  a  colony  of  Ethiopians,  as  Diodorus 
tells   us,  (and   I   think   it  muft  have  been  fo,  as  they  were  a  black, 
wooly-haired,  people  as  well  as  the  Egyptians,  and   had  many  cuf- 
toms    in    common    with    the    Egyptians,    particularly   the   ufe   of 
thofe  letters,  which  in  Egypt  were  caUed/acred  letters  and  ufed  on- 
ly by  the  Priefts,  but   in   Ethiopia   were  in   common  ufe),  I   have 
very  little  doubt,  that  the   Priefts  in   Egypt,   as  well   as   thofe  in 
Ethiopia,  had  very  great  power  over  the  King,  and  in  all  matters  of 
State.     This  Diodorus  Siculus  tells  us  in   his  firft  Book,  chap.  73. 
where  he  fays,  that  they  lived  with  the  King,  were  his  afliftants  in 

Vol.  IV.  E  e  bufinef*' 


2i8  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS,     Book  II. 

bufinefs,  and  his  teachers  and  inftrudors  ;  and  he  has  given  us  a 
very  particular  account  of  their  manner  of  living,  which,  he  faysj 
he  took  from  the  books  of  the  priefts  *.  If,  therefore,  it  be  true,  as 
Plato  has  faid,  that  it  is  only  the  government  of  philofophers  which 
can  make  a  people  happy,  the  Egyptians  certainly  enjoyed  that 
happinefs,  more  than  any  people  ever  did. 

There  is  one  part  of  the  Egyptian  polity,  of  which  I  have  not 
yet  fpoken,  and  with  which  I  will  conclude.  It  is,  I  think,  a  ma- 
terial part,  and  of  very  great  importance.  What  I  mean  is  the  di- 
vifion  of  the  land  of  Egypt  among  the  king,  the  priefts,  and  the 
foldiers.  I  have  juft  mentioned  it  in  a  preceding  part  of  this  vo- 
lume tj  where  I  have  obferved,  that  it  was  the  antient  feudal  fyftem 
of  Europe.  I  have  been  always  a  great  admirer  of  that  fyftem  : 
But  fince  I  difcovered  that  it  was  the  wifdom  of  the  Egyptians, 
1  admire  it  ftill  more,  and  particularly  that  part  of  it,  which  con- 
ftituted  a  landed  militia.  The  advantages  of  this  inftitution  Dio- 
dorus  has  very  well  explained  if  :  He  fays*  it  makes  the  foldiery 
encounter  more  chearfully  the  dangers  of  war,  and  fight  for  a  coun- 
try, of  which  they  have  fo  confiderable  a  (hare  :  '  For,'  fays  he,  *lt  is 

*  abfurd  to  truft  the  fafety  of  a  country  to  men,  who  have  nothing  in 

*  it  to  lofe  of  any  value:'  'And,  what,  'he  adds,'  is  of  the  greateft  con- 
'  fequence,  being  well  fupplied  with  all  the  ncceflfaries  of  life,  they 
'  marry  and  beget  children,  and  in  that  way  increafe  the  population 

'  of 

•  Diodorus  Siculus,  lib.  i.  cap.  6g.  70.  and  following,  where  this  author  Informs 
us  of  a  thing  which  I  think  remarkable,  that  the  King  was  ferved  by  no  flaves,  nor  at- 
tended by  any  body,  except  the  fons,  above  20  years  of  age,  of  Priefts  the  mod  emi- 
nent for  their  knowledge,  and  thefe  fons  themfelves  diftinguilhed  by  their  learning. 
And,  upon  this  occafion,  he  makes  a  very  fenfible  obfervation,  that  kings  do  no  very  bad 
things,  unlefs  by  the  miniftry  of  thofe  who  attend  them.  Then  he  proceeds  to  tell  us 
how  the  Kings  divided  the  day  betwixt  public  bufinefs,  offices  of  religion,  and  ftudy. 

t  Page  133- 

%  Lib   I,  cap.  73, 


Chap.  X.      ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  219- 

*  of  the  country,  fo  that  it  needs  no  foreen  fupplies  of  men.'  Now, 
in  this  refped,  let  us  compare  the  iimding  armies  of  Europe 
with  the  Egyptian  military  eftabliftunenc  or  with  the  feudal  miliria, 
which  was  not  very  long  ago  in  Euro;  :.  1  he  foldiers  of  a  ftand- 
ing  army  are  little  better  than  vagabonds,  who  have  neither  houfc 
nor  home,  nor  any  thing  of  value,  for  which  it  is  worth  their 
while  to  hazard  their  lives:  So  that  it  would  be  ridiculous  to  ex- 
hort them  to  fight  pro  arts  et  Jocis.  as  the  antients  exhorted  their 
foldiers.  And  as  to  what  Diodorus  thinks  of  the  greateft  in.portance 
in  the  Egyptian  militia,  the  increafe  of  the  people,  there  are  tew 
of  our  foldiers  married  ;  and  of  their  children,  1  am  aff;aid,  a  very 
bad  account  is  got.  So  that  the  race  of  the  ftrongeft  and  ableft  bo- 
died men  among  us,  fuch  as  the  foldiers  are  or  ought  to  be,  may  be 
faid  to  be  loft  to  the  country.  Now,  this  muft  have  a  very  great 
effe£t,  not  only  upon  the  numbers,  but  upon  the  fize  and  ftrength 
of  men  in  the  country. 


E  c  3  CHAP, 


22e 


ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.       Book  II. 


CHAP.        XI. 

Obfervations  to  prove  that  the  Egyptian  form  of  government  zuas  moft 
perfect. —-The  Egyptian  government  had  not  the  fault  of  the  heroic 
government Sy  nor  of  the  later  governments  in  Greece,  that  of  being 
too  popula''. — The  confequence  of  a  popular  government  is,  giving 
povoer  to  men  vuho  can  neither  give  nor  take  good  council.  — The 
government  of  Egypt  had  not  another  defcd  of  the  heroic  govern- 
ments in  Greece,  viz.  that  it  ivas  not  fit  for  the  cultivation  of  arts 
andfciences.  —  Leifure  required  for  that,  and  a  clafs  of  men  fet 
apart  for  that  purpofe. — This  the  Priefls  of  Egypt  had. — Jntient 
learning  never  could  have  been  reflored  in  Europe  in  the  i^th  and 
\6th  centuries,  if  men  had  not  been  fet  apart  for  that  purpofe. — Ob- 
jeilion  to  the  Egyptian  government,  that  it  nvas  not  a  free  govern- 
ment, fuch  as  the  heroic  governments.— ^Anfvuer,  that  it  vuas  not  a 
popular  government,  and  fo  much  the  better  for  not  being  fuch  ; — ■ 
reafonfor  this. — Objedion,  that  the  people  in  Egypt  vuere  govern- 
ed like  flaves. — Avfwer,  that  they  voere  fo  ivife,  as  tofubmit  vuil- 
lingly  to  the  government  eflablifloed  among  them,  and  not  to  obey 
through  fear   or  by   compulfion.  —  This  ivas  the  cafe  of  the   Ca- 
padocians  of  old,  and  the  Peafants  at  prefent  in  Poland  and  Ruffia. 
— The  confequences  of  the  People  being  taken  from  their  private 
bnjinefs  to  attend  the  Public,   is  their  poverty. — Examples  of  this 
in  Athens  and  Rome.— They  ivill  defire  to  make  profit  of  the  Pu- 
blic ;  and  that  ivill  produce  fadion  and  corruption. — No  Slaves  in 
Egypt.— That  proved  by  the  ftlence  of  antient   Authors  upon  that 
fubjed,  and  by  the  prefent  pradice  in  India,  —Sefofiris  did  not  make 
Slaves  of  his  Captives,   but  employed  them  in  public  vorks. — Sla- 
very^  an  impolitical  infiitntion, — not  necejfary  in  Egypt,  as  it  ivas 

in 


Chap.  XI.    ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  221 

in  Greece  and  Rome. — No  indigence  in  Egypt ^  fuch  as  is  in  modern 
Nations,  and  ivas  in  antient  times. — No  money  there,— Commerce 
carried  on  by  exchange. — No  great  ejlates.  —  That  prevented  by  the 
Agraran  laiv,  dividing  the  land  among  three  orders  of  the  State. 
—  No  foreign  luxury  in  Egypt,  as  they  had  no  trade  ivith  other 
countries. — A  ftngular  thing  in  the  Hijiory  of  Egypt,  that  they 
made  no  Provinces  of  the  Countries  they  conquered, — nor  impofed 
any  tribute  upon  them. — The  Egyptians,  not  only  happy  them/elves, 
but  a  public  blejjing  to  mankind-,  by  importing  arts  and  civility  a- 
mong  them. — The  three  great  articles  of  the  political fyjlenu  are  the 
health,  the  morals,  and  the  mtmbers  of  the  people. — As  to  Health, 
the  Egyptians  the  healthiejl  of  all  civilifed  nations  ; — ufed  Phyjic, 
not  only  to  cure  di/eafes,  but  to  prevent  them. — As  to  Morals — the/e 
better  in  Egypt  than  in  other  countries,  becaufe  they  "were  the  mojl 
religious  of  men, — and  had  not  thofe  temptations  to  vice,  ivhicb 
other  nations  have  by  ivealth  and  by  indigence, — Land,  their  only 
property  ;  -which  could  not  be  accumulated  in  the  hands  of  indivi- 
duals.— As  to  Numbers,  the/e  vuere  "wonderful  in  Egypt.  —  A  parti- 
cular account  of  the  number  of  Cities  under  At7iafts  and  Ptolemy 
Lagus. — This  number  of  Cities  more  to  be  depended  on  than  the 
numbering  of  Men, — Reafons  given  for  the  -wonderful  increafe  of 
Men  in  Egypt. —  All  marrying,  and  having  children.— ■  All 
children  brought  up  at  the  fmallefl  expense. — And  children  not 
dying  under  age,  as  fo  many  die  among  us. — One  extraordi- 
nary reafon  for  the  increafe  of  people,  -was  the  addition  to  the 
country  of  the  Delta. — This  mufl  have  added  very  much  to  the 
numbers  of  the  people,  as  -well  as  to  the  increafe  of  learning.  —  The 
Egyptian  Government  thus  proved  to  be  the  befl  that  ever  exijcd; 

and   the    mofl  fitted  for  the   cultivation  of  arts   and  fciences. 

The  duration  of  the  Government  of  Egypt,  a  proof  of  its  excellency, 

— No  changes  made  in  it  during  a  prodigious  number  of  years. 

No  difputes  about  the  fncceffion  to  the  Crotvn,  till  the  Greeks  came 

among 


222  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.     Book  IT. 

among  them. — The  Ethiopian  Kings  to  be  confidered  as  of  the  fame 
country.— Proof  of  the  perfedion  of  the  Government  of  Egypt,  is 
the  duration  of  the  fame  Government  in  India,  notivithfianding  all 
the  conquefh  that  have  been  made  in  that  country.  —  People  in  In- 
dia divided  in  the  fame  manner  as  in  Egypt. — The  Hindoos  of  In- 
dia,  a  very  happy  people.  —  ^ntient  Egypt  to  be  confideted  as  pre- 
ferved  in  India. — The  prefent  flat e  of  Egypt,  compared  ivith  the 
antient,  jnofl  lamentable. 


IN  the  preceding  chapter  I  have  given  the  general  plan  of  the 
Egyptian  Conftitution  and  Government.  In  this  chapter,  I 
propofe  to  make  fome  obfervations  upon  it,  which  I  hope  will  con- 
vince the  reader,  if  he  be  not  already  convinced,  that  it  was  the 
moft  perfedt  form  of  government  that  ever  exifted,  and  even  more 
perfedl  than  thofe  imaginary  forms,  which  the  Greek  philofophers 
devifed,  but  which  were  never  executed. 

And,  in  the  firfl  place,  I  think  I  have  proved  very  clearly,  that 
the  Egyptian  polity  had  not  that  fault,  which  I  have  obferved  in  the 
heroic  governments  of  Greece,  of  giving  the  people  too  much  power ; 
for  there  it  was  they,  who  ultimately  determined  every  thing  ;  and  in 
fome  of  the  ftates  in  Greece,  in  later  times,  all  diftindion  was  abo- 
lifhed  betwixt  the  different  ranks  and  orders  of  men,  and  the 
Joweft  of  the  people  governed  as  much  as  the  higheft.  Now  the 
people  in  all  countries  muft  neceffarily  confift,  for  the  greater  part, 
of  the  third  divifion  of  men  mentioned  by  Hefiodjthat  is,  of  men 
who  can  neither  give  good  counfel,  nor  will  take  it.  It  is,  there- 
fore, not  to  be  wondered,  that  though  they  fometimes  got  good 
counfel  from  their  orators,  they  did  not  take  it :  And  it  was  a  moft 
fenfible  obfervation  of  a  Scythian,  who  came  to  Greece,  that  the 

•wife 


Chap.  XI.      ANTIENT   METAPHYSICS.  223 

iv'ife  men  among  the  Greeks,  fpoke  and  gave  counfei,    but  the  fools 
determined. 

The  other  defed,  which  I  have  obferved  in  the  heroic  govern- 
ments, was,  that  they  were  not  proper  for  the  cultivation  of  arts  and 
fciences,  by  which  only  man  in  this  life  can  make  any  progrefs  to- 
wards recovering  from  his  fallen  ftate.  But  there  never  was  a  go- 
vernment more  fitted  for  the  invention  and  cultivation  of  arts  and 
fciences,  than  the  government  of  Egypt ;  for  there  the  race  of  the 
beft  men,  they  had,  was  fet  apart  for  that  purpofe,  having  noching 
elfe  to  do,  (not  even  to  provide  for  themfelves  the  neceflaries  of  life,) 
except  that  they  had  the  care  of  the  religion  of  the  country,  ar.d 
that  fome  of  them  attended  the  king  as  his  counfeilors.  Now  I 
hold  it  to  be  impoffible,  that  arts  and  fciences  ever  could  have  been 
invented  or  cultivated  in  any  great  degree  among  a  people  wholly 
employed  in  procuring  the  neceflaries  of  life,  or  in  the  pradice  of 
arms  and  government,  which  was  the  cafe  of  the  people  of  Greece 
in  the  heroic  age  :  For  there  muft  be  men  fet  apart  for  that  pur- 
pofe, and  who  have  leifure  from  the  occupations  of  life. 

If  this  had  not  been  done  when  antient  learning  was  revived  in 
Europe  in  the  15th  and  i6th  centuries, — if  learning  had  not  been  then 
the  public  care,  and  if  fchools,  colleges,  and  univerfities,  had  not 
been  founded  and  endowed  at  a  very  confiderable  expence,  it  is  to  me 
evident,  that  antient  learning  would  again  have  been  loft  ;  and  that 
we  fhould  have  been  now  as  ignorant  and  barbarous  as  we  were, 
when  the  Greeks  imported  their  learning  into  Italy  after  the  tak- 
ing of  Conftantinople.  This  extraordinary  care,  therefore,  that  was 
taken  to  cultivate  arts  and  fciences  in  Egypt,  where  it  was  made  a 
part  of  the  conftitution  of  their  government,  is  of  itfelf,  I  think, 
fufficient  to  prove,  that  Egypt  muft  have  been  the  parent  country 
of  all  arts  and  fciences,  unlefs  it  could  be  proved,  that  in  thofe  early 

times, 


224  ANTIENTMETAPHYSICS.     Book  II. 

times,  there  was  any  other  nation  who  had  fuch  an  order  of  men 
among  them. 

It  may  be  obje£ted  to  the  Egyptian  government,  that  it  was  not 
a  free  government,  fuch  as  the  heroic  governments  in  Greece  were, 
which  I  have  praifed  fo  much.  But  the  governments  in  Greece 
were  popular  governments,  which  cannot  be  free,  unlefs  the  people 
be  convinced  before  they  a£l :  Whereas  the  Egyptian  government 
was  not  popular  ;  and,  1  think,  1  have  fhewn,  that  it  was  fo  much  the 
belter,  as  it  is  impoffible  that  the  mere  people  can  always  be  guided 
by  the  beft  counfel,  but  often  by  the  worft,  either  not  having  un- 
derftanding  fufficient  to  perceive  what  is  beft  of  feveral  things  pro- 
pofed,  or  being  mifguided  by  their  paflions.  Of  this  I  have  fhewn 
that  the  people  of  Athens  were  a  ftriking  example  ;  the  clevereft  peo- 
ple, perhaps,  that  ever  exifted,  and  yet  they  ruined  themfelves  by 
their  folly  and  mifcondudt. 

But  It  will  be  faid,  were  the  people  of  Egypt,  then,  governed,  like 
Haves,  by  terror  and  compulfion  ;  and  was  their  only  motive  to 
obey  the  fear  of  punifhment  ? — 1  fay  not  :  But  as  they  were  a  very 
fagacious  people,  and  I  believe  as  wife  as  any  people  ever  were,  though, 
perhaps,  not  fo  clever  as  the  people  of  Athens,  they  would  be  fenfible 
that  they  were  very  well  governed,  and  better  than  if  they  had  been 
under  their  ovpn  government.  This  is  only  fuppofing  that  they  were 
as  wife  as  the  Capadocians,  who,  when  they  were  offered  liberty  by  the 
Romans,  refufed  it,  and  chofe  to  continue  under  the  government  of 
their  Kings,  And  I  was  informed  by  a  Polifh  nobleman,  (who,  being 
defcended  of  a  Scotch  family,  as  feveral  of  the  Polifh  noblemen  are, 
came  to  Scotland  fome  years  ago  to  fee  his  relations,  where  1  faw  him), 
that  a  neighbour  of  his  in  Poland,  having  vifited  England,  in  the  courfe 
of  his  travels, fell  there  in  love  with  Englifh  liberty  fo  much,  that,  when 
he  returned  to  his  own  country,  Ke  called  together  a  meeting  of  his 

peafants, 


Chap.  XI.     A  N  T  I  E  N  T  M  E  T  A  P  H  Y  S  I  C  S.  225 

peafants,  and  offered  to  emancipate  them  all,  and  leave  them  to  be 
governed  by  themfelves;  for  the  peafants,  both  in  Poland  and  Ruffia, 
are  no  better  than  flaves  to  their  landlords,  as  they  vi'ere  in 
Britain  fome  hundred  years  ago.  The  peafants  of  this  nobleman 
thanked  him  for  his  generous  offer,  but  faid  they  would  confider  of 
it,  and  return  by  fuch  a  day,  and  give  him  an  anfwer.  Accordingly, 
they  came  back  on  the  day  they  had  appointed,  and  told  him,  that 
they  thought  themfelves  infinitely  obliged  to  him  for  his  generous 
offer,  but  that  they  did  not  chufe  to  accept  of  it,  being  convinced  that 
they  were  happier  under  his  government,  than  they  would  be  un- 
der their  own.  And  I  was  acquainted  with  a  Ruflian  gentleman, 
who  told  me,  that  the  Ruflian  peafants  fhew  very  great  affedion  to 
their  mafters  ;  and  he  mentioned  a  fire  which  happened  fome  years 
ago  in  the  opera-houfe  of  Peterfburgh,  when  it  was  much  crouded 
with  company,  where  feveral  of  the  peafants  loft  their  lives  in  en- 
deavouring to  fave  their  mafters.  He  told  me  alfo  fome  ftories  of 
peafants,  who  colleded  money  among  themfelves,  (for  thefe  pea- 
fants, though  flaves,  have  land,  which  they  cultivate  and  reap  the 
fruits  of),  and  moft  generoufly  advanced  it  to  pay  their  mafters 
debts,  and  fave  him  from  the  neceility  of  felling  his  landsj  and  fo 
giving  them  another  mafter  ;  for  the  peafants  there  go  along  with 
the  lands  to  the  purchafer. 

Now,  I  think,  v^e  may  fuppofe,  that  the  Egyptians  were  not  only 
as  wife  as  the  Capadocians,  and  the  peafants  of  the  Polifti  nobleman 
above  mentioned,  fo  as  to  know  that  they  were  happier  under  the 
governors  they  had,  than  under  their  own  government,  but  were 
as  much  attached  to  their  governors,  as  the  Ruflian  peafants  are  to 
their  mafters ;  and,  if  fo,  it  is  evident,  that  they  were  not  govern- 
ed as  flaves,  by  terror  and  fear  of  puniftiment,  but  with  their  own 
free  will  and  confent,  and  with  love  and  affection  to  their  gover- 
nors; and,  that  being  the  cafe,  I  think  it  is  evident,  that  they  were  as 

Vol.  IV.  F  f  well 


220  A  N  T  I  E  N  T   M  E  T  A  P  H  Y  S  I  C  S,     Book  II, 

well  governed,  as  it  is  poffible  that  the  mere  people^  that  is,  men  of  Hs- 
fiod's  third  clafs.  can  be  governed.  The  manner  in  which  this  rank 
of  men  was  governed  in  Egypt?  had  this  peculiar  advantage,  that 
they  were  not  taken  from  the  bufinefs  or  trade,  which  was  afligned 
them,  and  to  which  they  were  educated,  by  any  care  for  the  public, 
which  made  a  great  difference  betwixt  them  and  the  people  in  the 
cities  in  Greece  and  thofe  in  Rome,  where  the  people  muft  have 
been  much  interrupted  in  their  private  buGnefs,  by  attending  public 
affemblies,  and  difcharging  other  offices  of  (late  :  The  confequence 
of  which  was,  as  wc  have  feen  in  Athens,  that  the  people  could  not 
live  by  their  private  indudry,  but  were  obliged  to  lay  hold  of  the 
public  money  ;  and  even  with  that,  fome  of  them  went  about  beg- 
ging: And  in  Rome,  the  poor's  roll,  in  the  lime  of  Julius  Caelar, 
confifted,  as  I  have  fhown  elfewhere*,  of  320,000,  v;ho  lived  by  pub- 
lic diftributions  of  corn.  And,  befides  this,  a  low  man,  who  is  taken 
from  any  fervile  bufinefs,  and  admitted  to  a  fliare  of  the  government, 
will  be  apt  to  defpife  and  negledt  his  proper  bufinefs,  and  take  himfelf 
entirely,  or  much  more  than  he  ought  to  do,  to  the  bufinefs  of  the  flate, 
in  which  he  will  endeavour  to  be  a  man  of  fome  confideration,  and  to 
indemnify  himfelf,  for  the  lofs  he  fuffers  in  his  private  bufinefs,  by 
making  profit  of  the  public  ;  and  this  necefTarily  will  produce  fac- 
tion and  corruption. 

But  though  the  people  of  Egypt  had  no  fhare  in  the  government, 
I  think  I  have  fhown  very  clearly  that  they  were  not  governed  like 
flaves :  And,  I  fay,  farther,  that  even  in  private  families,  men 
were  not  governed  in  that  way  :  Nor  was  there  a  clafs  of  men  a- 
mong  the  Egyptians,  that  was  known  by  the  name  of  flaves.  Thefe 
were  fo  numerous  among  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  that  in  fome 
cities  they  equalled,  if  not  exceeded,  the  number  of  freemen.  But 
that  there  was  no  fuch  order  of  men  in  Egypt,  I  think,  we  may  be 
fure  from  the  very  particular  account  of  that  country,  given  us  by 

Herodotus 

•  Origin  of  Language,  vol.  5.  p.  189. 


Chap.  XI.      A  N  T  I  E  N  T  M  E  T  A  P  H  Y  S  I  C  S.  227 

Hercdotus  and  Diodorus  Siculus,  in  vvliich  there  is  not  a  word  faid 
of  flaves  among  them, -vvho,   it   they  had  exiiled,   muft  have  made  a 
^lals   cf  men    very  different  from  the  other  clafles  which  they  men- 
tioned,  not  belonging  to  the  public,  like  thefe  other  clafles,  but  the 
property  of  their  mafters  ;  and  if  there  were  any  doubt  in  the  mat- 
ter, the  pra<ftice  ot  India,  which  certainly  got  from  Egvpr  its  whole 
political  fyftem,  does,  in  my  opinion,  make  the  matter  quite  clear  - 
For  Diodorus  tells  us,  that  in  his  lime  there  were  no  flaves  in  India. 
And  I  have  information,  which  I  can  depend  upon,  that  there   are 
none  at  prefent  among  the   native    Indians,  that   is,   the    Hindoos- 
and,  indeed,   where   there  were   men  of  all  trades  ready  at  hand  to 
fupply  the   wants  of  every  man  and  every   family,  there    was   no 
need  that  men  fhould  be  kept  in  private    families  for   that   purpofe, 
as  they  were  among  the  Greeks  and    Romans.     And,  I  think,  fla- 
very,  confidered   in  a  political  view,  is  a  bad  inAItution  ;  for  it  is  a 
government   within   a   government  ;  and   it   is   certainly  improper, 
that  citizens  of  the  fame  ftate  fhould  be  governed  by  the  arbitrary 
will  of  any  other  citizen,  and  not  by  the  laws  of  the   ftate.     And, 
accordingly,  in  lome  countries,  it  has  produced  a  great  deal  of  mif- 
•chief  by  the  infurredion   of  Haves,  and  their  revolt  from  fuch  an 
unnatural  government.     The  Romans  were  engaged  for  fome  years  in 
a  dangerous  war  \Servi/e  Bellum,   as  they  called  it,)  with  the  flaves 
of  Sicily  and  of  the  Southern  parts  of  Italy  ;  and  the  inhabitants  of 
Argos  in  Greece  had  a  long  war   with   their  rebellious  flaves,  in 
which  they  at  laft  prevailed   with   much   difficulty  "*.     It  appears, 
however,   that   fometimes  a  man  from  another  country  was  fold  in 
Fgypt  for  a  flave,   as   Jofeph  was,  by  the  Iflimaelites,  to  Potipher; 
but  there  is  not  the  leaft  evidence  that  any  of  the  Egyptians  were 
flaves,  or  that  there  was  fuch  an  order  of  men  in  Egypt.     It  does 
not   appear,   that   Ofiris   brought   one  captive  from  India  to  Egypt. 
Sefoftris,  indeed,  returned  to  Egypt  from  his  conquefts  with  a  great 

F  f  3  number 

*  Herodotus,  lib.  6.  cap.  83. 


228  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.     Book  II. 

number  of  captives.  ■  But  they  were  not  niade  domeftic  fiaves  to 
particular  men,  but  were  employed  in  public  works;  and  in  the 
fame  way  the  Ifraelites  were  employed  by  Pharoah.  The  fmgle 
inftance,  therefore,  of  Jofeph  being  fold  as  a  Have  to  a  piivate 
man,  does  not  prove  that  it  was  the  general  cullom  of  Egypt  to 
make  Haves  even  of  foreigners ;  and,  1  think,  the  contrary  is  prov- 
ed by  the  example  of  Sefoflris. 

Thus,  I  think,  it  appears,  that  the  third  race  of  men,  which  He- 
fiod,  in  the  pallage  I  have  quoted  *,  mentions  as  ufelefs,  was  far 
from  being  fo  in  Egypt  :  But,  on  the  contrary,  they  were  moft  ufe- 
ful,  and,  1  believe,  as  happy  as  by  nature  they  were  capable  of  be- 
ing. For  as  men  cannot  be  happy  without  a  proper  education,  they 
were  as  well  educated  as  was  pofTible  for  qualifying  them  to  dif- 
charge  the  feveral  offices  affigned  them  ;  for  which,  therefore,  they 
were  fitted  by  education,  as  well  as  by  nature.  Nor  does  it  appear,  that, 
in  any  country,  fo  much  attention  was  given  to  the  education  of  the 
lower  fort :  So  that,  if  we  could  fuppofe,  that  education  was  the 
only  thing  neceflary  to  form  a  good  government,  as  the  Greek  phi- 
lofophers  feem  to  fuppofe,  there  never  was  a  country  where  it  was 
more  attended  to  than  in  Egypt.  In  other  countries,  no  doubt,  great 
attention  has  been  given  to  the  education  of  the  men,  who,  by  their 
rank  in  the  ftate,  were  entitled  to  govern.  But  in  no  country  was 
there  ever  fo  much  care  taken  of  the  education  of  the  lower  fort ; 
and  the  Greek  philofophers,  who  fpeak  fo  much  of  the  education 
of  the  citizens,  mention  only  the  education  of  thofe,  who  might 
govern  as  well  as  be  governed:  Which  was  the  cafe  of  all  the  forms 
of  government,  that  they  have  given  us;  and  particularly  of  that  which 
Ariftotle  thinks  the  beft,  and  calls,  by  way  of  diftin£tion,  uoXituu., 
where  the  citizens  were  all  to  govern  and  be  governed  in  their  turns, 
and  to  praftife  nothing  but  arms  and  government,  while  the  neceflary 

arts 

•  Page  177. 


Chap.  Xr.      A  N  T  I  E  N  T  M  E  T  A  P  H  Y  S  I  C  S.  229 

arts  of  life  weretobe  carried  on  by  flaves,or  by  barbarians  living  in  their 
neighbourhoocl,  whom  Ariftotle  calls  nictoixct*.  This  is  certainly  a 
very  narrow  fyftem  of  governmenr,  and  which  niuft  be  confined  to 
one  city,  and  accordingly  it  is  fo,  both  by  Ariflotle  and  Plato  : 
Whereas  the  Egyptian  fyftem  takes  in  a  whole  nation,  and  a  moft 
numerous  nation,  and  provides  men  proper  to  difcharge  all  the  of- 
fices of  life,  even  the  meaneft. 

Further  the  divifion  of  the  people,  into  fo  many  claffes  or  cajls^ 
as  they  are  called  in  India,  according  to  the  different  arts  which  they 
profefs,  muft,  1  think,  have  made  theni  excel  more  in  their  feveral 
arts  and  profelTions,  than,  I  believe,  any  people  in  any  other  coun- 
try ever  did.  In  other  countries,  and  particularly  in  the  popular  go- 
vernments of  Greece,  men  had  feveral  employments  :  For  befides 
the  particular  art  which  they  profeffed,  they  had  the  bufinefs  of  the 
ftate,  to  which  they  were  obliged  to  attend.  Thus  a  citizen  of  A- 
ihens,  befides  his  particular  bufinefs,  fuch  as  that  of  a  foldier,  a  fai- 
lor,  a  merchant,  or  whatever  other  bufinefs  he  might  think  proper 
to  apply  to  in  order  to  acquire  money,  was  obliged  to  attend  the 
public  affemblies,  to  be  a  judge,  or  to  difcharge  any  other  office  of 
the  ftate,  that  by  lot  might  fall  on  him.  Now,  1  fay,  it  is  impoffi- 
ble,  when  a  man  pradices  fo  many  trades,  that  he  can  excel  in  any 
one  of  them  t :  Whereas  the  citizens  of  Egypt,  following  only  one 
profeffion,  and  being  educated  for  that  profeffion  in  the  beft  way 
poffible,  muft  have  excelled  in  it.  And  there  muft  have  been 
an  emulation  among  all  thofe  pradifing  the  fame  profeffion, 
which  muft  have  made  them  ftrive  to  outdo  one  another.  And 
this  emulation  would  take  place,  not  only  in  the  lower  clafl'es,  but 
alfo  among  the  prieftsj  where  there  would  not  only  be  emulation  a- 

mong 

*  Lib.  4.  de  repull'ica.  cap.   8.  and  9.  and  lib.   7.  cap.   13. 
t  Homer  fays  of  Margites,  who  was  a  Jack  of  all  Trades^  that 


230  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.       Book  IT. 

mong  thofe  cf  the  fame  college,  but  among  the  different  col- 
leges, fuch  as  thofe  of  Thebes  and  of  Heliopolis  ;  which  laft,  as 
Herodotus  tells  us,  had  the  reputation  of  being  the  moft  learned. 
Now,  it  is  emulation  that  makes  men  ftrive  to  excel  in  th2  feveral 
arts  and  profeffions;  for  it  proceeds  from  a  fenfe  of  hcnour,  the  great 
animating  principle  of  the  political  fyftem,  and  which  gives  life 
and  vigour  to  all  the  adions  of  men  both  in  public  and  private 
life  ;  and,  if  that  principle  be  well  direfted  by  the  wifdom  of  the  • 
ftate,  the  government  muft  neceffarily  be  good  and  the  people 
happy.  It  is  this  principle  which  dirtinguifhes  eiTentially,  as  I  have 
obferved*,  a  foldier  from  a  flave,  though  he  have  no  will  of  his  own, 
but  be  governed  entirely  by  his  officer.  It  was  this  principle  that 
made  the  king  of  Sparta  and  his  300  Spartiates,  facrifice  their  lives 
fo  glorioufly  for  the  liberties  of  Greece.     It  was  the 

. Laudum  irnmenfa  cupido, 

as  Virgil  exprefles  it,  which  made  the  Romans  fo  great  a  people 
and  fo  magnanimous,  that  70,000,  of  them  lay  upon  the  field  of 
battle  of  Cannae,  without  one  man  furrendering  himfelf  a  prifonerf. 
And,  to  defcend  to  common  life,  it  is  this  principle  which  makes 
what  we  call  fajlnon  among  us,  a  law  more  prevalent  than  any  law 
human  or  divine,  though  the  fandion  of  it  be  nothing  elfe,  but  the 
want  of  the  praife  which  we  fliould  otherwife  have  had,  if  we  had 
complied  with  the  fafhion. 

And  this  leads  to  an  obfervation,  which,  I  think,  it  is  not  impro- 
per here  to  make  :  As  there  can  be  no  fenfe  of  what  is  honourable 
and  praife-worthy,  without  a  fenfe,  at  the  fame  time,  of  what  is  beau- 
tiful, graceful,  and  becoinmg,  in  fentiments  and  aiftions,  this  fenfe 
is,  therefore,  not  only  the  foundation  of  virtue  and  of  the  fine  arts, 
but  alfo  of  government  j  and,  indeed,  ic  appears,  that  there  can  be 

nothing 
•  Page  209.  of  this  volume. 

t  See  Vol.  V.  of  Origin  of  Language  p.  221. 


Chap.  XI.      A  N  T  I  E  N  T   M  E  T  A  P  H  Y  S  I  C  S.  231 

nothing  valuable  among  men  without  it  ;  nor  is  there  any  fenti- 
ment  fo  univcrfal  among  men.  We  iiave  vet  dlfcovered  no  nation 
lo  barbarous,  that  has  not  lome  idea  of  beauty,  at  leaft  in  outward 
form,  and  particularly  in  their  own  drefs,  \t  they  have  any.  And 
even  a  (enfe  of  the  beauty  of  fentiment  and  charader,  we  find  in 
people  very  little  advanced  in  civility  and  the  common  arts  of  life, 
fuch  as  the  New  Zealanders  and  the  people  of  the  Pelevs'  Iflands, 
of  both  of  whom  I  have  fpoken  elfewhere*;  and  in  whatever  we 
purfue,  we  think  we  perceive  fomething  fine  and  praife-worthy. 
The  love  of  money  is  one  of  our  moft  fordid  paffions;  yet  the  mifer 
is  vain  of  his  money.  Now,  there  cannot  be  vanity,  as  I  have  elfe- 
where fhownf,  without  afenfe  of  the  graceful  and  becoming;  and  fuch 
monfters  of  gluttony,  luxury,  and  intemperance  of  every  kind,  as 
Vitellius  and  Heliogabalus,  thought,  no  doubt,  that  their  manner  of 
living  was  becoming  and  fuitable  to  the  dignity  of  a  Roman  em- 
peror. In  fhort,  it  appears  to  me,  that  thofe,  who  deny  that  any 
fuch  fenfe  is  natural  to  man,  are  entirely  ignorant  of  human  nature, 
not  knowing  that  it  is  the  principle  the  moft  prevalent  in  it ;  and  if 
it  be  perverted,  it  is  the  caufe  of  almoft  all  our  vices  and  follies,  and  is 
the  greateft  depravity  of  human  nature,  but,  if  rightly  direded,  it 
makes  the  greateft  perfedion  of  our  nature,  and  is  the  only  fource 
of  happinefs  to  the  intelledual  nature,  even  to  the  divine  :  For  God 
had  pleafure  in  the  produdion  of  the  univerfe,  becaufe  he  faw  that 
it  was  beautijul ;  for  fo  the  Hebrew  word  is  tranflated  in  the  Sep- 
tuagint. 

As  the  profpeiity  of  the  nation  is  the  end  propofed,  or  that  fliould 
be  propoled  by  government,  let  us  confider  in  this  view  the  Egyp- 
tian government.  The  profperity  of  every  nation  muft  depend  up- 
on three  things ;  the  health,   the  moralsj  and  the  numbers,   of  the 

people.. 

*  Page  55.  of  this  volume. 

t  Volume  II..  of  this  work  p.  128*. 


232  ANTIENT   METAPHYSICS.     Book  If. 

people.  Without  health  and  morals,  no  people  can  be  happy  ;  and 
without  numbers,  they  cannot  be  a  great  or  poweiful  nation.  As 
to  the  health  of  the  people,  we  know  very  certainly  that  their  nei- 
ther is,  nor  ever  was,  upon  the  earth,  a  country  where  health  was 
more  fludied,  or  more  proper  means  ufed,  both  to  preferve  it,  and 
to  reftore  it  when  loft.  They  had  phyficians  for  each  difeafe  ;  and 
they  had  prefcriptions  for  the  cure  of  difeafes :  And  which 
prefcriptions  had  come  down  to  them  from  the  remoteft  anti- 
quity, I  think,  very  probably  from  the  reigns  of  their  Damons  j 
which  rules  their  phyficians  were  obliged  to  follow ;  And  if  they 
deviated  from  them,  it  was  at  their  own  rifk  ;  for  if  the  patient 
died,  they  themfelves  fuffered  death.  But  what  I  admire  moft  in 
their  phyfic,  was  their  application  of  it,  not  only  to  the  cure  of 
difeafes,  but  to  the  prevention  of  them,  and  to  the  prefervation  of 
health,  which  is  of  greater  value  than  the  reftoring  of  it  when  loft. 
For  this  purpofe,  Herodotus  tells  us,  that  they  cleanfed  their  bodies 
very  thoroughly  by  vomiting,  purging,  and  glyftering,  for  three  days 
fucceffively  in  the  beginning  of  each  month.  And  the  reafon  they  gave 
for  it  was  a  good  one,  that,  in  fuch  a  climate  as  theirs,  there  were  not 
ihofe  changes  of  weather,  which  produce  fo  many  difeafes  in  other 
countries  :  So  that  the  only  caufe  of  difeafe,  among  them,  was  in- 
temperance in  eating  and  drinking;  to  prevent  the  effects  of  which, 
ihey  cleanfed  themfelves  in  the  manner  I  have  mentioned.  This 
they  pradifed  when  Herodotus  was  among  them  :  But  when  Dio- 
dorus  was  there,  they  took  their  phyfic  more  frequently,  but  not  at 
once,  and  not  fo  violently;  and  the  priefts  pradifed  a  regimen  which 
I  am  fure,  from  my  own  experience,  muft  have  contributed  very 
much  to  their  health  ;  and  that  was  bathing  in  cold  water  :  This 
they  did  twice  in  the  day,  and  as  often  at  night.  The  confequence 
of  this  care  of  health  among  the  Egyptians  was,  as  Herodotus  informs 
us,  that  they  were  the  healthieft  of  all  men,  excepting  only  the  Ly- 
bians,   who  lived  the  life  of  favages :    And  if  we  confider  that  they 

all 


Chap.  XL     AN  TIENT   METAPHYSICS. 


-jj 


all  lived  in  cities,  which  is  certainly  a  life  not  fo  healthy  as  the 
country  life,  and  that  tlie  land  -was  overficved,  for  fome  months  in 
the  year,  by  the  river,  dur'ir.o  which  time  they  may  he  faid  to  have 
lived  in  the  water  ;  this  :ilci  is  a  luilGcient  proof,  that,  in  the  prac- 
tice of  this  great  art  of  the  political  fyftem,  they  muft  have  excelled 
all  the  world. 

As  to  Morals,  I  think,  in  that  refpedl  too,  they  muft  have  exceed- 
ed all  the  civilized  nations  of  which  we  have  heard :  For,  in  the 
firft  place,  they  were,  as  Herodotus  tells  us,  the  moft  religious  of 
men.  Now  it  is  impoffible  that  religion,  efpecially  when  it  is  fuch 
a  religion  as  the  Egyptian,  whicii,  as  I  have  obferved,  had  nothing 
barbarous  or  inhuman  in  it,  fliould  not  improve  the  morals  of  men. 
Befides  that,  they  had  not  thefe  two  great  difeafes  of  the  political 
fyftem,  which  produce  fo  much  dilorder  in  it,  and  are  the  fource 
of  the  greateft  part  of  the  vices  and  crimes  among  men  ;  I  mean 
•wealth  and  uidlgence  :  For,  as  they  had  no  foreign  commerce,  they 
could  not  accumulate  wealth  in  that  way.  Their  whole  wealth  was 
their  land  ;  and  it  was  divided  in  fuch  a  way,  that,  I  think,  it  was 
not  poftible  that  any  man  fhould  acquire  wealth  by  the  polleflion  of 
it :  For  the  land  all  belonged  to  the  King,  to  the  Priefts,  or  to  the 
Soldiers.  Now  thefe  orders  of  men  pofTeffed  no  lands  themfelves 
(for,  otherwife,  they  muft  have  gone  out  of  the  clafs  in  which  they 
were  placed  by  the  conftitution,  and  have  become  farmers),  but  had 
the  rents  paid  by  the  farmers,  or  herdfmen,  who  pofTefled  them,  and 
who  paid  their  rents  to  the  King  and  to  the  other  two  clafles  of  "men- 
not  however  to  the  individuals  of  thefe  clafles,  but  to  the  whole  of  them 
to  be  divided  among  them.  The  Egyptians,  therefore,  may  be  faid  to 
have  enjoyed  that  blefting,  which  yfgi/r  prayed  for,  of  neither  poverty 
nor  wealth.  Neither  had  they,  as  I  have  obferved,  any  foreign  com- 
merce, by  v.'hich  we  know  that  vices  a?  well  as  dilcafes  are  import- 
ed into  a  country  ;  and  even  the  commerce  in  their  own  country 
was  carried  on,  not  by  money,  as  among  us,  but  in  the  antient  pri- 

Vol.  IV,  G  g  mitive 


234  'ANTIENT   METAPHYSICS.        Book  IL 

mitive  way  by  exchange  of  commodities.  For  Herodotus  tells  us, 
that  the  Lydians  were  the  firft  who  coined  money  *  :  And  from 
the  fame  autb.or  we  learn,  that  the  Egyptians  borrowed  none  of 
their  cuftoms  from  other  nations.  It  is  true,  that  the  Egyptians  had 
a  great  deal  of  gold  and  filver,  more  perhaps  than  any  other  people 
ever  had.  But  there  is  no  evidence  that  they  coined  any  of  it,  any 
more  than  the  Greeks  did  at  the  time  of  the  Trojan  war,  who  had 
alfo  gold  and  filver  among  them,  which  they  gave  in  exchange  for 
other  commodities,  weighing  it  in  talents ;  and  in  this  way  it  no 
doubt  pafled  among  the  Egyptians.  The  Egyptians,  therefore,  had 
not  among  them  that  root  of  all  evil ^  money,  which,  by  its  accumu- 
lation and  eafy  circulation,  does  more  mifchief  than  any  other  kind 
of  wealth,  and  is  more  produdive  of  thofe  two  great  difeafes  of  the 
political  body,  the  wealth  of  the  few,  and  the  indigence  of  the  ma- 
ny ;  and  belides,  it  makes  a  greater  and  quicker  circulation  of  vice 
and  folly  in  a  country,  than  commerce  by  exchange  can  do. — That 
there  could  not  be  great  wealth  in  Egypt,  I  have  already  ftiown  : 
And  as  to  indigence  among  them,  neither  Herodotus,  Diodorus  Si- 
culus,  nor  any  other  author,  who  has  treated  of  Egypt,  have  faid 
a  w^ord  of  it ;  which  they  certainly  would  not  have  failed  to  have 
done,  if  it  had  been  fo  great  as  it  was  in  fome  other  antient  ftates, 
l\ich  as  that  of  Athens  and  Rome.  If  any  man  was  to  give  fuch  a 
defcription  of  England,  as  Herodotus  and  Diodorus  Siculus  have 
given  us  of  Egypt,  he  would  not  omit  to  tell  us,  that  a  very  confi- 
derable  part  of  the  people  fubfifted  upon  public  or  private  charity. 
From  the  filence,  therefore,  of  authors  with  refped  to  a  thing  of 
fuch  importance  in  the  polity  of  a  country,  I  think  1  may  infer,  that 
there  was  no  fuch  indigence  in  Egypt,  as  we  hear  of  in  other  coun- 
tries, both  antient  and  modern.  And,  if  there  v^-as  no  fuch  indi- 
gence, I  think,  we  may  infer,  that  there  were  no  very  great  eftates, 
nor  any  great  inequality  in  the  fortunes  of  private  men  ;  for  great 
wealth  of  fome  private  men,  and  great  poverty  of  others,  have  al- 
ways 
*  Lib.  T.  cap,  94. 


Chap.  XL     A  N  T  I  E  N  T   M  E  T  A  P  H  Y  S  I  C  S.  235 

ways  gone  together  in  all  countries.  But  in  thoie  countries,  wealth 
confifted  chiefly  in  coined  money,  which,  as  it  circulates  in  the  ea- 
fieft  and  moft  private  way,  enables  men  to  collect  wealth  much 
more  eafily  than  they  can  do,  when  gold  and  filver  is  only  a  com- 
modity like  herds  and  flocks. 

There  was  not,  therefore,  in  Egypt  that  inequality  of  fortune 
among  the  citizens,  that  has  produced  fo  much  diforder  in  other 
ftates.  And,  indeed,  I  may  fay,  that  the  diftin(Slion  of  rich  and  poor 
has  produced  more  internal  difturbances,  more  fa(flions  and  difor- 
ders,  which  have  very  often  ended  in  the  ruin  of  the  ftate,  than  per- 
haps any  other  thing.  And  as  the  Egyptians  had  not  money,  nor 
any  trade  with  foreign  countries,  they  had  no  foreign  luxury,  but 
lived  entirely  upon  the  produce  of  their  own  country. 

The  lafl  great  article  in  the  fyftem  of  government  is  the  Numbers- 
of  the  people.  In  this  the  Egyptians  appear  to  me  to  have  exceed- 
ed all  the  nations  that  ever  exifted,  without  exception  even  of  the 
Indian,  which,  we  are  told,  was  in  antient  times  a  very  populous 
nation,  and  is  fo  at  this  day.  In  the  reign  of  Amafis,  Herodotus  tells 
us,  that  there  were  20,000  cic  'o  in  Egypt.  Diodorus  makes  them 
only  18,000  J  and  fays,  that  vvas  the  number  recorded  in  the  books 
of  the  Priefts  *.  And  even  after  they  had  fallen  under  the  dominie 
on  of  the  Perfians,  and  then  of  the  Macedonians,  their  numbers 
continued  to  increafe,  their  polity  ftill  remaining  the  fame  :  For 
Diodorus  tells  us,  that  under  Ptolemy  Lagus,  the  number  of  their 
cities  amounted  to  30,000  ;  which  number,  he  fays,  continued  to 
his  time  f.  And  we  are  not  to  fuppofe,  that  what  they  called  ci- 
ties were  nothing  but  fmall  villages ;  but,  that  they  were  truly  what 
might  be  called  cities,  fome  of  them  no  doubt  greater  or  lefler  than 

G  g  2  others.; 

•  Lib.  1.  cap.  31. 

f  Ibidem. 


236  ANTIENT   METAPHYSICS.        Book  II. 

others;  for,  as  the  people  lived  altogether  in  cities,  (and  indeed  they 
could  not  live  otherwife  during  the  months  that  the  country  was 
overflowed),  and  as  thofe  cities  were  raifed  upon  mounts,  at  a  great 
expence  of  labour,  to  fecure  them  againft  the  inundation,  we  mufl 
fiippofe  that  they  confifted  of  a  great  number  of  houfes,  and  were 
inhabited  by  many  men,  who  otherwife  could  not  have  lived  in  the 
country.  The  way  that  we  commonly  judge  of  the  populoufnefs 
of  countries,  is  by  the  numbers  of  the  individuals  living  in  it ;  and 
we  fay,  that  in  fuch  or  fuch  a  country  there  are  fo  many  millions  of 
men.  But  to  afcertain  this,  is  a  matter  of  very  great  difficulty;  nor 
do  I  know,  that  the  numbers  of  people  in  any  country  have  been 
properly  afcertained  in  that  way.  Whereas  the  cities  in  a  country 
may  be  eafily  numbered  :  So  that,  I  think,  that,  in  counting  the 
cities  in  Egypt,  there  could  hardly  be  any  miftake. 

This  number  of  people  will  not  appear  incredible,  even  in  fo  fmall 
a  country  as  Egypt,  which  was  no  more  than  a  valley  betwixt  the 
Arabian  Mountains  on  one  fide,  and  the  Lybian  on  the  other,  if  we 
confider  the  manners  and  cuftoms  of  the  people.  Among  them,  I 
am  perfuaded,  every  man  was  married;  and,  that,  they  held  it  to  be 
a  religious  duty  to  communicate  to  children  the  life  that  they  had 
got  from  their  parents.  This  is  the  opinion  of  the  Indians  at  this 
day;  and,  as  I  am  perfuaded  they  got  their  cuftoms  and  manners,  as 
well  as  their  polity  and  their  arts  and  fciences,  from  the  Egyptians, 
I  think  it  is  highly  probable,  that  they  adopted  this  Egyptian  cuf- 
tom  likewife.  Then  there  was  no  fuch  thing  as  expofing  children 
among  the  Egyptians,  iuch  as  was  pradtifed  among  the  Greeks  and 
Romans  ;  but  all  their  children,  legitimate  and  illegitimate,  were 
brought  up,  and  at  the  fmalleft  expence,  chiefly  upon  the  herbs 
which  the  river  produced,  as  Diodorus  Siculus  informs  us.  'Then 
that  vice,  which  was  fo  common  among  the  Greeks  and  Romans, 

and 


Chap.  XI.     A  N  T  I  E  N  T   M  E  T  A  P  H  Y  S  I  C  S.  237 

and  xvhich,  as  Ariftotle  informs  us*,  was  permitted,  and  even  en- 
couraged by  the  polity  of  Crete,  in  order  to  prevent  the  too  great 
increafe  of  the  people,  I  mean  fodomy,  w^as  not  known  in  Egypt. 
And  when  to  thefe  confiderations  we  join  this,  that  in  fo  healthy 
a  country  as  Egypt,  few  or  no  children  would  die  under  age ; 
whereas,  among  us,  many  more  than  a  half  that  are  born,  do  not 
live  to  be  men  and  women; — When  we  join,  I  fay,  all  thefe  confi- 
derations together,  it  will  by  no  means  appear  incredible,  that  the 
numbers  of  people  in  Egypt  Ihould  have  been  fo  very  great;  fo  great, 
that  they  muft  have  been  quite  overftocked  with  people,  many  more 
than  their  land  or  water,  fruitful  as  they  were,  could  maintain, 
and  that  in  not  many  generations,  if  they  had  not  difcharged  them- 
felves  by  colonies,  which  they  fent  to  diiferent  countries,  by  which 
they  at  the  fame  time  propagated  their  arts  and  fciences.  Of  thefe 
colonies  their  Priefts  named  many,  which  no  doubt  were  fet  down 
in  their  facred  books,  but  of  fome  of  which  the  Greek  hiftori- 
ans  feem  to  have  doubted.  But,  for  my  part,  though  they  had  not 
faid  a  word  of  the  colonies  they  fent  out,  I  fhould  have  believed,  that 
it  was  impoffible  by  the  nature  of  things,  that  they  muft  not  have 
fent  out  a  great  many. 

What  made  the  numbers  of  the  people  in  Egypt  fo  very  great,  was 
a  thing  which  happened  in  Egypt,  and  I  believe  no  where  elfe.  In  o- 
ther  countries  a  great  deal  of  land  has,  at  fome  time  or  another,  been 
inundated  by  the  fea,  or  by  rivers,  and  in  that  way  fo  much  land  taken 
from  the  inhabitants :  Whereas  in  Egypt  there  was  a  very  great  addi- 
tion made  to  the  country ;  and  which  I  think  muft  have  been  richer,  and 
more  produdlive  of  every  thing  for  the  fuftenance  of  man,  than  the  old 
country.  What  I  mean  is  the  addition  of  the  Delta,  or  lower  Egypt, 
to  the  upper;  which  addition,  as  Herodotus  tells  us,  was  the  gift  of 
the  river,  being  produced  by  the  earth,  which  the  river  brought  with  it 

from 

*  Lib.  2.  De  RepuMica,  cap.  lo. 


238  ANT  lENT  METAPHYSICS.        Book  IL 

from  ^thopia  when  it  overflowed.  This  addition  began  to  be  made 
after  the  reign  of  the  Gods,  as  the  Egyptians  called  their  Daemon 
Kings,  had  ceafed.  Such  an  increafe  of  land  muft  have  made  a  won- 
derful increafe  of  people,  more  than,  I  believe,  were  in  Upper  Egypt. 
And  this  new  created  land  mufi:  have  added  not  only  a  great  deal  to 
the  numbers  of  the  people,  but  alfo  to  the  progrefs  of  learning  and 
of  arts  and  fciences.  In  Upper  Egypt  it  does  not  appear  that  there 
was  more  than  one  college  of  Priefts,  that  of  Thebes ;  but  in  the  Del- 
ta there  were  feveral,  and  particularly  one,  mentioned  by  Herodotus, 
at  Heliopolis,  where  he  fays,  there  were  the  moft  learned  Priefts  with, 
whom  he  converfed.  Now  it  is  evident,  that  by  the  increafe  of  the 
number  of  colleges,  learning  muft  have  been  increafed  ;  for  befides 
the  increafe  of  the  numbers  employed  in  learning,  there  muft  have 
been,  as  I  have  obferved,  an  emulation  among  the  feveral  colleges, 
which  muft  have  contributed  very  much  to  the  advancement  of 
knowledge.  I  will  only  add  farther  upon  this  fubjed:,  that  this  fo^ 
wonderful  an  event,  as  the  creation  of  a  new  country,  muft  have 
happened  by  the  providence  of  God,  which  had  deftined  that  Egypt 
fhovlld  be  the  parent  country  of  all  arts  and  fciences  ;  and.  for  that 
purpofe  fhould  abound  more  than  any  other  country  in  numbers  of 
men,  fo  as  to  be  able  by  the  colonies,  which  it  fent  out,  to  pro- 
pagate arts  and  fciences  all  over  the  earth  then  known;  for  which 
purpofe  Egypt,  as  I  fhall  £how  afterwards,  was  better  fituated  than 
any  other  country. 

Thus  I  think  I  have  proved  that  the  Egyptian  government  anfwer- 
ed  the  three  great  purpofes  propofed  by  government,  the  Health,  the 
Mora!-3,  and  the  Numbers  of  the  people. 

And  thus  much  may  fuffice  for  the  internal  government  of  Egypt. 
As  to  their  tranfadions  with  other  nations,  their  government  was  in 
this  refpedt  more  remarkable,  perhaps,  and  more  diftinguilhed  from 

that 


Chap.  XI.     A  N  T I  E  N  T   M  E  T  A  P  H  Y  S  I  C  S.  239 

that  of  other  nations,  than  in  any  thing  elle  that  I  have  mentioned. 
They  were  the  greatefl  conquerors  of  whom  we  read  :  Their  Dae- 
mon King,  Ofnis,  overran  a  great  part  of  India  :  And  their  human 
King,  Sefoftris,  went  ftill  farther  in  that  countr)^,  and  paft  the  Gan- 
ges, which  neither  Ofiris  nor  Alexander  did;  and  he  appears  to  have 
overnm  all  the  reft  of  Aha,  and  a  part  of  Europe  as  far  as  Thrace, 
But  they  made  no  provinces  of  the  countries  they  conquered,  as  the 
Romans  did  ;  nor  impofed  any  tribute  upon  them.  Ofiris  overran 
that  great  country  of  India,  for  no  other  purpofe,  as  appears,  except 
to  introduce  among  them  civility  and  arts  ;  and  Sefoftris,  though  he 
was  in  India  too,  and  made  great  conquefts  in  Afia,  and  even  in 
Europe,  and  though  he  made  captives  whom  he  employed  in  the 
way  I  have  mentioned  *,  impofed  no  tribute  upon  the  nations  he 
conquered,  nor  gave  them  any  king  or  ruler,  but  left  them  to  chufe 
rulers  for  themfelves,  and  to  be  governed  by  their  own  laws. 

The  Egyptians,  therefore,  did  not  eredl  a  great  Empire,  fuch  as 
thofe  of  the  AiTyrians,  Medes,  Perfians,  Macedonians,  and  Romans; 
which  I  hold  to  have  been  the  principal  caufes  of  the  prefent  defola- 
ti  on  of  the  Earth  :  Whereas  the  Egyptians  peopled  feveral  coun- 
tries with  their  colonies,  and  propagated  their  arts  and  fciences  to  the 
moft  diftant  parts  of  the  earth.  The  polity  of  the  Egyptians,  therefore, 
not  only  made  themfelves  very  happy,  but  may  be  faid  to  have  been 
a  blefling  to  human  kind,  and  the  greateft  blefTmg  that  man  can  be- 
ftow  upon  man,  if  it  be  true,  as  I  think  I  fhall  fhow  it  is,  that  from 
Egypt  all  arts  and  Iciences  are  originally  derived. 

Such  being  the  nature  of  the  Egyptian  government,  both  at  home 
and  abroad,  I  think  I  may  conclude,  that  it  was  more  perfect  than 
any  government  that  ever  exifted  on  this  earth,  or  was  imagined  by 

the 

*  See  p.  227. 


240  A  N  T  I  E  N  T   M  E  T  A  P  H  Y  S  I  C  S.        Book  11. 

the  Greek  philofophers  ;  that  it  was  as  perfect  as  any  govern- 
ment on  this  earth  can  be;  and  that  the  people,  who  lived  under 
it,  muft  have  been  very  happy,  and  indeed  I  believe  the  happieft  of 
men  :  Nor  do  I  think  they  could  have  been  otherwife,  as  they  were 
governed  not  only  by  religion,  but  by  philofophy,  without  which, 
as  Plato  tells  us,  no  people  can  be  happy  ;  nor  can  there,  fays  he,  be 
any  end  of  human  mifery,  unlefs  kings  become  philofophers,  or  phi- 
lofophers kings. 

If  any  doubt  ftiould  remain  of  the  government  of  Eygpt  being  fo 
perfect  a  government,  the  duration  of  it  would  be  fufficient  proof: 
For  in  government,  as  well  as  in  every  thing  elfe,  what  is  moft  per- 
fedl  in  the  form  will  laft  the  longeft.  Of  the  duration  of  the  go- 
vernment of  Egypt  I  have  already  fpoken*.  It  is  proved  by  a 
chronological  monument,  fuch  as  is  not  to  be  found,  nor  ever  was 
to  be  found,  in  any  other  country  in  the  world  ;  I  mean  the  flatues 
of  the  High  Priefts  of  Jupiter  in  Thebes  :  And,  befides  thefe,  the 
numbers  of  the  years  of  the  reigns  of  their  Kings  were  fet  down,  as 
Herodotus  informs  us,  in  the  books  of  their  Priefts,  whofe  account 
of  thefe  Kings  was  fo  exact,  that  they  fet  down  their  ftature,  as  Di- 
odorus  Siculus  informs  us.  During  all  this  prodigious  number  of 
years  which  their  government  lafted,  from  Menes  their  firft  human 
King,  (for  I  reckon  not  the  reigns  of  their  Gods,  though  I  believe 
them  to  have  been  as  real  Kings  as  the  human  Kings,  and  their 
reigns  were  very  much  longer),  down  to  the  Perfian  conqueft,  there 
was  no  change  of  the  government ;  nor  during  all  that  time  was 
there  fo  much  as  an  attempt  to  change  the  government,  or  any  re- 
bellion againft  their  eftablifhed  Kings,  or  affaffmation  of  them,  nor 
any  thing  that  can  pofTibly  be  called  a  civil  war,  though,  after  the 
Greeks  had  found  the  way  into  the  country,  there  were  two  dif- 
putes  about  the  fiiccefTion  to  the  Crown,  but  each  of  them  -vras  ter- 
minated 

•  Page  133- 


Chap.  XI.     A  N  T  I  E  N  T  M  E  T  A  P  H  Y  S  I  C  S.  241 

minated'  by  a  fingle  battle  :  And  there  were  no  profcriptions  and  ca- 
pital punifhments,  fuch  as  accompanied  the  civil  wars  in  Rome,  or 
maffacres,  fuch  as  we  read  of  in  other  countries  upon  like  occafions. 
As  to  the  Ethiopian  Kings,  who  reigned  in  Egypt,  it  appears  that 
they  got  the  Crown  without  any  conqueft  or  civil  war :  And  as  the 
Egyptians  were  undoubtedly  a  colony  from  ^Ethiopia,,  as  Diodorus 
has  fhown,  (who  fays,  that  the  land  of  Egypt,  as  well  as  the  people, 
came  from  iEthiopia),  I  think  it  is  likely  that  they  fucceeded  with 
the  confent  of  the  nation  ;  for  the  Grown  in  Eg^-pt  docs  not  appear 
to  have  ever  been  hereditary  or  the  property  of  any  family.  One 
of  thefe  Ethiopian  Kings,  after  he  had  reigned  fome  years,  volun- 
tarily refigned  the  Crown  :  Nor  does  it  appear,  that  any  of  them 
made,  or  attempted  to  make,  any  change  in  the  conftitution  or  form 
of  government,  nor  introduced  any  new  manners  or  cuftoms  among 
the  people.  And,  indeed,  the  manners  of  the  two  countries  were 
fo  like,  that  there  could  hardly  be  any  thing  of  that  kind  :  And  the 
form  of  government  in  both  countries  was  fo  far  the  fame,  that  the 
Priefts  were  the  governing  men. 

Thus  it  appears,  that  the  government  in  Egypt  had  every  mark 
of  a  perfed  form  of  Government,  and  particularly  its  duration, 
•which,  compared  with  that  of  other  governments,  of  which  we  read, 
is  moft  extraordinary  ;  nor  is  there  any  thing  like  it  to  be  found  in 
the  hiftory  of  man,  except  the  duration  of  the  Polity  of  India,  which, 
as  it  was  derived  from  the  Polity  of  Egypt,  is  another  proof  of  the 
exceHence  of  that  polity.  The  Polity  of  India  ftill  continues  the  fame, 
notwithftanding  the  many  eftablifhments  of  foreigners  in  that  coun- 
try, and  the  many  conquefts  that  have  been  made  of  it,  firft  by  Gen- 
gifchan,  then  by  Tamerlane  and  the  Mogul  Tartars,  after  them  by  the 
French  and  EngUlh,  who  are  in  pofleffion  at  prefent  of  a  great  part  of 
the  country;,  and  the  Portugeefe  have  alfo  fettlements  there:  Yet,  not" 
withftanding  all  thefe  conquefts,  and  the  frequent  intercourfe  they 


24t  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.        Book  IL 

muft  have  had  with  fo  many  foreigners  fettled  in  their  country,  the 
Hindoos,  that  is  the  native  Indians,  preferve  the  antient  form  of 
poUty,  by  which  the  people  were  divided  into  fo  many  claffes,  or 
cciftsy  as  the  Indians  call  them,  kept  diftindl  from  one  another,  and 
not  intermixed  by  marriages.  The  firft  of  thefe  cafts  is  the  Bra- 
mins,  who  are  precifely  what  the  Priefts  in  Egypt  were  ;  for  they 
have  the  care  of  the  religion  of  the  country.  They  are  the  coun- 
cillors of  the  Rajahs  or  antieat  Princes  of  the  country  ;  and  they 
are  the  depofitai-ies  of  the  arts  and  fciences,  which  the  Egyptians 
imported  into  India,  and  particularly  of  that  language,  of  moil  won- 
derful art,  called  the  Shanfcrit,  and  which  I  hope  to  be  able  to  prove 
was  the  antient  language  of  Egypt.  They  have  alfo  a  military  caft, 
which  they  call  Rajaputs:  and  who  are  fo  much  fitted,  both  by  their 
nature  and  education,  to  ije  foldiers,  that,  as  I  am  informed  by  our 
■officers  who  hav^?  been  ia  Jnuia,  they  are  the  beft  men  among  our 
Seapoys,  when  thev  can  be  got  j  but  it  is  no^  eafy  to  get  them,  as 
they  are  of  lb  uigaiiied  a  eg^.  rAad,  befides  thtfe  two  higheit  calls, 
they  have  inferior  calls,  fuch  as  thoie. .  ot  fanners,  herdimen,  &;c.; 
and  which  are  all  kept  feparate  from  one  another,  as  the  fame  claifes 
were  in  Egvpt.  And,  as  the  Egyptians  were  fo  happy  under  their 
government,  rliC  Indians,  I  am  told,  are  likewife  very  happy  un- 
der the  fame  form  of  government,  notwithflanding  all  the  diilur- 
bances  that  they  have  met  with  in  later  times  from  foreigners  ;  but 
which  hive  made  them  alter  nothing  of  their  culloms  and  manners. 
Mr  Raftings,  who  is  a  man  of  great  fenfe  and  obfervation  as  well 
as  of  learning,  and  who  was  32  years  in  India,  and  governor  there 
for  13  of  theie  years,  tells  me,  that  he  thinks  them  the  happleft  peo- 
ple he  has  ever  known  :  And,  as  to  their  polity,  he  fays,  that  their 
diviiion  into  cafts,  (a  fmgularity  of  the  Egyptian  government,  which 
is  only  preferved  in  India),  makes  all  theix  bufinefs  of  life  go  on 
much  better  than  it  would  otherwife  do;  as  they  have  there  no  man 
t)f  many  trades,  but  every  man  has  a  bufmefs  of  his  own,  to  which 
he  wholly  applies  himfelf.     And,  indeed,  that  the  divifion  of  the 

fevcral 


CKap.  XI.     ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS^:.  243: 

Several  arts  and  profeflions  among  different  clafles  of  men,  who^ 
by  nature  and  education,  were  fitted  to  excel  in  thofe  feveral 
arts,  was  a  moft  wife  and  political  inftitution,  I  think,,  cannot  be 
doubted  ;  for,  if  men  in  a  ftate  are  at  liberty  to  pra<9:ife  any  bufi- 
nefs  or  profeflion,  without  being  fitted  for  it  either  by  nature  or  e  - 
ducation,  the  confequence  neceffarily  muft  be,  that  thofe  arts  will^ 
for  the  greater  part,  be  very  ill  praclifed.  If  ia  a  private  family^  the 
fervants  have  not  each  of  them  a  particular  bufinefs  allotted  them, 
but  ex'ery  one  of  them  is  to  do  every  thing,  it  is  evident  that  the' 
whole  bufinefs  of  that  family  will  be  very  ill  managed.  Now,  a  ftate 
is  to  be  confidered  as  a  great  family  ;  and,  indeed,  all  ftates  were 
originally  compofed  of  alTociatioas  ot  tauulies  *. 

It  may  be  alfo  obferved,  as  one  great  advantage  of  this  divifion  of 
the  people  according  to  their  feveral  occupations,  that  every  man  mufc 
be  contented  with  his  own  fituation  fo  far,  at  leaft,  that  he  cannot  afpire 
to  be  of  any  higher  caft  ;  and  therefore  his  only  ambition  muft  be,  to 
excel  in  his  own  Caft :  Whereas  in  other  countries,  where  there  are 
no  fuch  clafles  of  men,  there  are  no  bounds  fet  to  the  ambition  of  any 
man,  but  every  man  attempts  to  rife  as  high  as  he  can.  Now,  this 
muft  needs  make  men  unquiet  and  difcontented.  The  incapa- 
city, therefore,  of  rifing  higher  than  their  Caft,  muft,  I  think> 
of  itfelf,  make  the  Hindoos  happier  than  the  people  of  other 
countries.  The  only  ambition  they  can  have,  is  to  excel  in  their 
feveral  profeflions,  and  in  no  other.  And  this  ambition  muft  pro- 
duce an  emulation,  which,  as  I  have  obferved,  muft  make  them  ex- 
cel in  their  feveral  arts  ;  and  which  muft  be  much  greater  among 
thofe  of  the  fame  art,  than  among  thofe  profeflTmg  different  arts  • 
and,  indeed,  a-mong  thefe  there  can  hardly  be  any  emulation  at  all 
efpecially  when  it  is  impoffible  that  a  man  of  the  lower  caft  can  rife 
to  a  higher.  He  therefore  will  not  compare  himfelf  with  thofe 
above  him,  but  will  be  contented  if  he  can  out  do  thofe  of  the  fame. 

H  h  2  caft  I 

•  See  p.  1 7<5,  of  this  vol. 


244  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.       Book  II. 

caft :  And  this,  among  others,  I  think,  Is  one  great  advantage  of 
the  divifion  of  the  people  into  clafles  according  to  their  feveral  em- 
ployments. For  my  own  part,  I  have  heard  fo  much  of  the  Hin- 
doos, and  of  the  bravery  and  fidelity  of  thofe  who  are  in  our  fervice, 
that  there  is  no  people  I  fhould  defire  more  to  be  acquainted  with ; 
and  if  I  could  acquire  knowledge  enough  of  their  learned  language, 
fo  as  to  read  their  books  of  fcience,  of  which,  I  am  informed  by 
Sir  William  Jones,  they  have  a  great  many  upon  every  fubjedt, 
I  believe  I  fhould  learn  more  of  the  antient  Egyptian  philofo- 
phy,  which  was  brought  to  Greece  by  Pythagoras,  and  which  I 
hold  to  be  the  only  genuine  philofophy,  than  is  to  be  found  in  the 
Greek  books.  In  fliort,  I  confider  India  as  Egypt  ftill  preferved  to 
us;  and,  if  I  were  there,  I  fhould  confider  myfelf  as  in  the  parent 
country  of  all  arts  and  fciences,  where  they  were  beft  cultivated,  and 
brought  to  the  greateft  degree  of  perfedion. 


CHAP. 


Chap.  XII.     A  N  T I  E  N  T  M  E  t  A  P  H  Y  S I C  S.  245 


CHAP.        XII. 

Compart/on  of  the  prefait  State  of  Egypt  ivitb  its  ard'tent  State. — 
The  change  more  for  the  worfe  than  in  any  other  country. — /;/  He- 
rodotus^ s  time^  it  ivas  a  country  more  -wonderful  than  all  the  other 
countries  upon  earth. — Of  its  climate,  and  its  river. — 7 he  climate 
not  liable  to  excefs  either  of  hot  or  cold,  dry  or  tvet.  —  The  changes 
of  thefc  produce  many  difeafes  among  men.  —  The  river  more  "wonder- 
ful than  the  climate. — //  has  created  a  country  in  Egypt, — and 
makes  this  country  ivonderfully  fruitful  by  r€ne'wing  the  foil  of  it, — 
Without  that,  the  land  of  Egypt  could  not  have  la/led  or  maintained 
Jo  many  people. — -Examples  to  prove  this. —  The  Nile  made  agricul- 
ture in  Egypt  a  very  eafy  art,  which  is  fo  laborious  in  otljer  coun- 
tries,— //  deliver  ed  them  from  the  reproach  of  feeding  upon  dung. — 
The  river,  befides,  yeildtd  many  plants  of  different  kinds,  upon 
•which  the  inhabitants  of  the  marfhy  part  of  Egypt  lived. — The  land 
of  Egypt  fertile  as  -well  as  the  water. — It  produced  wheat  and  bar- 
ley which  grew  wild  there,  and  no  where  elfe. — Of  the  works  of 
art  in  Egypt.'-^The  in^  and  greatefl  work  of  that  kind,  the  mounds 
of  earth,  upon  ■'which  the  cities  were  built,  and  without  which  the 
country  could  nst-Atave  been  inhabited, —The  fecond  great  "work  of  art 
in  Egypt,  was  the  Lake  of  Maris ',~a  moji  tfeful  work,--of  -wonder- 
J'ul  circumference  ana^  depth.'— The  third  great  work  of  Egypt,  'was 
the  Labyrinth.  —  The  fourth,  the  Pyramids, — the  lajl  of  the  great 
works  of  Egypt,  as  Herodotus  has  arranged  thejn,  but  fuch,  that, 
if  they  had  not  been  fill  extant,  we  could  not  have  believed  in  the 
■Either  wonders  of  Egypt.  —  The  greatefl  work  of  art  among  the  E- 
.gyptians^  was  their  Government, — -the  fubje^  of  which  was  Men, 

ajid 


246  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.       Book  m 

and  not  materials  fuch  as  Jlone  and  brick. — In  this  they  exceeded 
all  the  world. — All  thefe  arts  ^joined  with  their  prodigeous  numbers, 
and  the  arts  and/ciences  they  invented,  make  them  the  mojl  wonder- 
ful people  on  earth. — Of  the  prefent  Jlate  of  Egypt ,— wonderfully 
changed  for  the  worfe^—frft,  as  to  the  numbers  of  the  people.  —  "The 
antient  Egyptian  Race  not  to  be  fomid  in  Egypt :  So  that  the  na>- 
tion  may  be  faid  to  be  annihilated. — Injlead  of  being  the  mojl  fruit' 
ful  country  in  the  world,  not  able  to  maintain  the  few  inhabi" 
tants  that  are  in  it :  And,  inflead  of  being  the  healthiefl  country 
in  the  worlds  it  is  now  the  feat  of  difeafe. 

IN  this  chapter  I  propofe  to  compare  the  antient  with  the  prelent 
ftatg  of  Egypt;  a  compai'ifon  which  will  exhibit  an  alteration, 
and  a  change  fer  the  worfe,  fuch  as  is  not  to  be  found  in  any  other 
country  upon  the  earth,  though  in  all  countries  the  changes  have 
been  very  great  in  latter  times,  and  I  am  afraid  none  for  the  better. 

Herodotus  has  faid,  that,  in  his  time,  Egypt  exhibited  more  won- 
ders both  of  nature  and  of  art,  than  all  the  countries  of  the  earth 
put  together*:  And  he  mentions  particularly  their  heaven,  or  cli- 
mate they  enjoyed,  and  their  river  fo  different  from  other  rivers, 
and  alfo  the  manners  of  the  people.  As  to  their  climate,  the  coun- 
try is  in  fuch  a  latitude,  as  not  to  be  liable  to  any  excefs,  either  of 
heat  or  cold,  nor  of  dry  or  of  wet.  In  Upper  Egypt  it  never  rains; 
or  if  it  did,  it  was,  in  antient  times,  accounted  a  prodigy;  which, 
Herodotus  tells  us,  was  the  cafe  before  the  Perfian  conqueftj  and  then 
it  only  rained  in  drops  :  And  in  Lower  Egypt  it  rains  but  feldom  ; 
nor  have  they  any  of  thofe  fogs  or  milf  s,which  make  other  climates, 
lefs  favoured  by  Heaven,  fo  unwholefome.  They  have  not,  there* 
fore,  that  fucceffion  of  hot  and  cold,  dry  and  moift,  nor  in  general 

that 
♦  lib.  2.  cap.  35. 


Chap.XlI.     ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  247 

that  change  of  weather,  which,  as  the  fame  author  obferves,  affeds 
the  human  body  fo  much,  ami  produces  fo  many  difeafes. 

Their  river  was  ftill  more  wonderful  than  their  fky;  for  there  may 
perhaps  be  other  climates  as  good  as  that  of  Egypt,  but  there  is  no 
river,  known,  like  the  Nile,  or  which  has  produced  fo  wonderful 
an  efFedi  as  the  produdtion  of  a  great  country  ;  I  mean  the  Delta ^ 
which,  as  Herodotus  tells  us,  was  the  gift  of  the  river :  And  not 
only  has  produced  it,  but,  by  annually  overflowing  it  and  the  Up- 
per Eg}'pt,  lias  made  them  both  the  moft  fruitful  countries  in  the 
world.  Other  rivers  by  overflowing  only  water  the  foil,  and  pre- 
vent the  bad  eflfeds  of  exceflfive  drought ;  whereas  the  Nile  not  only 
waters  the  foil,  but  annually  renews  it,  by  bringing  from  ^Ethiopia 
a  very  rich  earth,  which  it  depofits  upon  the  plains  of  Egypt,  while 
it  Aagnates.  Nor  do  I  think  it  is  polfible,  that,  without  fuch  renew- 
al, Egypt  could  have  maintained  fo  many  millions  of  people  for  fe 
many  thoufand  years,  nor  have  invented  fo  many  arts  and  fciences, 
and  by  their  colonies  propagated  them  to  fo  many  countries.  For 
the  fame  foil,  however  good,  muft  be  exhaufted  at  laft  by  continu- 
ed cropping  for  a  great  number  of  years,  notwithftarKling  any  dung 
we  can  give  it;  for  we  carry  off,  in  every  crop,  more  of  the  vegetable 
earth  than  w^  can  add  to  it  by  the  richefl:  dunging;  and  of  what  re- 
mains we  exhauft  at  laft  the  feminal  virtue.  I  was  told  by  a  gen- 
tleman employed  by  Government  to  fur\^ey  the  Weft  India  Iflands, 
which  we  took  from  the  French  in  the  war  before  the  laft,  that  he 
was  informed,  that  fome  of  thefe  Iflands,  when  they  were  firft  cul- 
tivated, produced  20  crops  of  fugar  without  dung  or  changing  the 
plant;  whereas  in  our  Ifland  of  Barbadoes,  which  has  been  very- 
long  in  culture,  they  miift  dung  and  change  the  plant  every  year. 
Paleftine,  which  was  once  a  moft  fruitful  country,  and  maintained 
a  prodigious  number  of  inhabitants,  is  now  fo  much  exhaufted,  that 
it  is  little  better  than  a  fandy  defert. 

The 


248  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.       Book  IL 

The  Nile,  by  overflowing  and  renewing  the  foil,  made  agricul- 
ture, which  in  other  countries  is  an  art  requiring  much  labour  and 
fkill,  a  matter  of  great  eafe  in  Egypt:  For,  as  Herodotus  has  told 
us*,  the  farmer  there,  was  not  obliged  to  plough  or  dig  the  ground; 
but  afler  the  river  was  retired,  he  had  no  more  to  do,  but  to  fow 
his  feed  upon  the  wet  mud,  and  then  employ  fwine  to  tread  it  in  ; 
and  in  this  way  he  had  a  plentiful  crop,  which  he  faved  himfelf 
alfo  the  trouble  of  threflxing  by  treading  the  grain  out  with  fwine. 

Another  advantage  the  Egyptians  had  by  the  overflowing  of  the 
river  was,  that  they  efcaped  the  reproach  which  the  King  of  iEthi- 
opia  caft  upon  the  Perfians,  that  they  lived  upon  dung ;  for  having, 
alked  the  Perfian  ambafliadors  upon  what  they  lived,  and  being  told 
it  was  upon  wheat,  which   was  raifed  among  them,  as  among  us, 
from  land  dunged,  he  faid  that  it  was  no  wonder  that  they  lived  fo 
Ihort  time,  when  they  fed  upon  dung  f  :    And  it  is  certain,  that  all 
the  fruits  of  the  earth  muft  have  in  them  more  or  lefs  of  the  manure 
by  which  they  are  raifed  and  nourifhed :    And  I  have  no  doubt,  but 
that  many  difeafes  are  produced  among  us  and  other  nations  in  Eu- 
rope by  our  being  fed  in  that  way ;  and   I  hold  it  to  be  one  rea- 
fon  of  the  great  health  of  the  Egyptians,  that  all  the  corn  they 
ate  was  not  raifed  from  dung,  but  from  new  earth  brought  down 
by  the  river.     Whereas,  we  feed  upon  fruits  raifed  in  our  fields  and 
gardens  from  the  dung  of  other  animals;  and  thofe,  who  live  in  great 
towns,  feed  upon  fruits^  a  great  part  of  which  is  raifed  from  their 
own  dung ;  for  that  is  a  principal  part  of  the  manure  of  fields  and 
gardens  near  to  a  great  city.     Now^  we  can  hardly  imagine  a  food 
more  unnatural  than  this. 

And  not  only  did  the  river  produce  the  moft  plentiful  crops  with- 
out any  culture,,  but  it  abounded  fo  much  with  filh,  and  with  herbs, 

whicJi 
*  lib.  2.  cap.  14.  t  Herodotus,  Lib.  3.  cap.  22. 


Chap.  XII.     ANTI  EN  T   METAPHYSICS.  249 

which  it  produced,  particularly  the  Lotus^  Agrojiis^  and  Biblus^  that  it 
maintained  numbers  of  men  without  the  ufe  of  any  corn  :  For  He- 
rodotus mentions  a  part  of  Egypt  which  was  altogether  marihy, 
where  the  inhabitants  neither  fowed  nor  reaped,  but  lived  entirely 
upon  the  produce  of  the  river ;  and  Diodorus  Siculus  tells  us,  that, 
even  in  the  country  that  was  fown,  the  children  were  brought  up 
chiefly  upon  plants  that  grew  in  the  river,  with  little  or  no  expence 
to  their  parents. 

But  not  only  was  the  water  thus  bountiful  to  the  inhabitants,  but 
the  earth,  I  imagine,  was  of  the  beft  kind,  producing  plants  which 
were  to  be  found  in  no  other  country  :  So  that  1  believe  we  owe  to 
Egypt  the  very  bread  we  eat ;  for  wheat  and  barley,  and  every  other 
fpecies  of  grain,  mull  have  grown  wild  in  fome  country  before  they 
were  cultivated  ;  and,  accordingly,  Diodorus  Siculus  tells  us,  that 
the  wheat  was  a  wild  plant  in  Egypt  before  Ifis  taught  the  people 
the  culture  of  it.  Now,  I  do  not  believe  that  the  common  wheat,  and 
much  lefs  the  finefl  kind  of  it,  which  they  called  Zea^  and  which  was 
the  Far  of  the  Romans,  and  the  food  of  the  beft  people  in  Egypt*,  is, 
at  prefent,  or  was,  at  any  time,  the  natural  produce  of  any  other  coun- 
try. The  barley,  too,  of  which  we  make  our  ale,  and  upon  which 
the  Greeks  fed  before  they  got  the  ufe  of  wheat,  was,  I  am  perfuad- 
ed,  likewife  a  native  of  Egypt,  and  of  no  other  country  j  and  fo 
alfo  was  the  vine,  which  Ofirls  carried  to  India  and  taught  the  In- 
dians the  culture  of.  And  if  it  went  as  far  as  India,  we  may  pre- 
fume  that  it  went  to  Greece,  and  that  the  Greeks  learned  the  cul- 
ture of  it,  as  well  as  other  arts,  from  the  Egyptians. 

Herodotus  has  likewife  mentioned  the  works  of  art  in  Egypt,  as 
being  moft  wonderful,  as  well  as  thofe  of  nature.  I  will  fay  fome- 
thing  upon  this  fubje£t  likewife;  and,  I  will  begin  with  one  of  them, 
which,  I  think,  was   as  neceffary  as  it   was  wonderful,  and  in  that 

Vol.  IV.  I  i  refpea 

*  Herodotus,  Lib.  2.  cap.  36. 


250  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.        Book  II. 

refped  differed  materially  from  the  Pyramids,  which,  though  works 
very  wonderful,  were  certainly  not  neceffary  ;  and  it  differed  from 
the  Pyramids  alfo  in  this  refpedl,  that  the  Pyramids  were  confined 
to  particular  fpots,  whereas  this  great  work  was  all  over  the  country. 
The  work  I  mean  is,  the  building  of  fo  many  cities  upon  mounds 
of  earth,  raifed  above  the  overflowing  of  the  river ;  without  which 
the  country  could  not  have  been  inhabited  for  near  one  half  of  the 
year,  as  Herodotus  informs  us  *.  Now  what  a  labour  it  muft  have 
been  to  place  not  fmgle  houfes,  but  cities,  to  the  number  of  20,000, 
upon  the  tops  of  artificial  mounds.  How  high  thofe  mounds  mufl 
have  been,  we  may  judge  from  what  Herodotus  tells  us  of  the  over- 
flowing of  the  river,  which,  he  fays,  covered  not  only  the  Delta  of 
Egvpt,  but  fometimes  a  part  of  Lybia  upon  one  fide,  and  of  Ara- 
bia on  the  other  fide,  and  to  the  extent  of  two  days  journey  on  each 
fidef  :  And  more  particularly  he  informs  us,  that,  in  his  time,  if 
it  did  not  rife  15  or  16  cubits  at  leafl,  it  did  not  cover  the  coun- 
try X  ;  fo  that  the  mounds,  upon  which  the  cities  were  built,  muft 
have  been  more  than  24  feet  high.  When  the  river  overflowed, 
the  whole  of  Egypt  was  a  fea,  and  the  cities  only  appeared  ;  which, 
therefore,  he  compares  to  the  Cyclade  Iflands  in  the  Ega:an  Sea  |j, 
that  is  what  we  call  the  Archipelago  Iflands.  To  this  work  of  na- 
ture, I  think  it  was  not  improper  to  compare  this  greatefl,  and,  at 
the  fame  time,  moft  ufeful,  work  of  man. 

The  next  moft  ufeful  work  of  the  Egyptians,  and  the  mofl  won- 
derful too,  was  the  Lake  Mseris,  which  was  about  400  Englifh  miles 
in  circumference,  and  50  fathoms  deep  wi.ere  it  was  deepeft.  This 
lake  received  the  waters  of  the  Nile  when  it  overflowed,  and  retain- 
ed them  when  it  retired:  So  that  it  was  a  refervoir  for  thofe  waters, 

from 

*  Lib.  2.  cap.  19, 

•j-  Ibidem. 

I  Ibid.  cap.  13. 

{1  Ibid.  cap.  96.     Diod.  Siculus  fays  the  fame  thing.     Lib.  i.  cap.  23. 


Chap.  XII.     ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  251 

from  which  they  were  derived  by  many  canals  to  every  part  of  the 
countr)"-,  w^hich  wanted  them.  Of  this  wonderful  work  a  fmall  re- 
main is  yet  to  be  feen. 

The  next  mofl  wonderful  work  in  Egypt  was,  the  Palace  of  the 
1 2  Kings,  built  in  the  form  of  a  Labyrinth.  Of  this  there  is  no  vef- 
tige,  as  far  as  I  know,  remaining. 

The  laft  of  the  wonders  of  art  in  this  country,  were  the  Pyramids; 
of  which  there  are  three  ftill  remaining,  one  of  thefe  called  the  Great 
Pyramid,  of  ftupenduous  fize,  covering  about  eight  acres  of  ground 
as  it  ftands  at  prefent ;  but  it  muft  have  covered  more  v.'hen  Hero- 
dotus faw  it,  according  to  his  defcription  of  it.  If  thefe  Pyramids 
had  not  been  ftill  extant,  I  doubt  whether  we  fhould  have  believed 
in  the  other  wonders  of  Egypt  related  to  us  by  Herodotus.  And, 
yet  the  Pyramids  were  the  leaft  of  the  wonders  of  the  works  of  men 
in  Egypt,  according  to  the  account  Herodotus  gives  of  them ;  for 
he  fays  the  Labyrinth  exceeded  the  Pyramids,  as  much  as  it  was 
exceeded  by  the  Lake  Mseris. 

But  I  have  not  yet  mentioned  the  greateft  of  all  the  arts,  in  which 
they  excelled ;  the  materials  of  which  are  not  ftone  and  mortar, 
earth  or  water,  but  men,  the  nobleft  fubjedl  of  art  upon  this  earth. 
By  this  defcription  the  reader  will  readily  underftand  that  I  mean 
the  art  of  government,  in  which  I  think  I  have  fhown  that  the  E- 
gyptians  exceeded  all  the  world.  When  to  thefe  works  of  nature 
and  of  art  I  join  the  prodigious  numbers  of  the  people,  their  geni- 
us, and  their  invention  of  fo  many  arts  and  fciences,  their  conquefts 
too,  and  the  ufe  they  made  of  thefe  conquefts,  I  think  we  need  not 
hefitate  to  pronounce,  with  Herodotus*,  that  Egypt  was  the  moft 
wonderful  country  on  earth,  and  more  wonderful  than  all  the  other 
countries  put  together.     And,  I   think,  I   may  add  with  Diodorus 

I  i  2  Siculus, 


*  Herod.  Lib.  2.  cap. 


03' 


252  ANTIENT   METAPHYSICS.        Book  II. 

Siculus  *,  that  they  were  a  moft  happy  people,  enjoying  all  thofe 
advantages  from  nature,  which  I  have  mentioned,  of  air,  earth,  and 
water;  likewife  a  form  of  government,  which,  I  think,  1  have  fhown 
to  be  the  beft  that  ever  was  pradtlfed  or  even  Imagined ;  and  befides 
all  thefe,  the  arts  and  fclences  they  invented,  by  which  they  made 
the  civil  life  compleat. 

Let  us  now  compare  the  prefent  ftate  of  Egypt  with  Its  antient 
ftate,  as  I  have  defcrlbed  it ;  and  the  change  for  the  worfe  will  ap- 
pear wonderful; — greater,  as  I  have  fald,  than  Is  to  be  found  In  any 
other  country  on  earth.  Egypt  was  once,  as  I  have  fhown,  the 
moft  populous  country  in  the  world ;  and  now  It  may  be  faid  to  be  a 
defert  compared  with  what  It  was  formerly.  It  is  inhabited  at  prefent 
by  Turks  and  Arabs,  and  a  mongrel  race  of  people,  they  call  Copts, 
who  have  a  mixture,  it  Is  faid,  of  the  antient  Egyptian  blood.  But 
black,  woolly-haired  men,  fuch  as  the  antient  Egyptians  were,  but 
with  features  very  different  from  thofe  of  the  negroes,  are  not  now 
to  be  found  In  Egypt ;  and,  according  to  my  information,  are  only 
to  be  feen  In  the  Ifland  of  Meroe,  formed  by  the  Nile  in  iEthiopIa, 
but  who  probably  are  Ethiopians;  fo  that  the  whole  Egyptian  na- 
tion may  be  faid  to  be  extlndl.  Inftead  of  being  the  beft  governed 
country,  as  It  formerly  was,  I  believe  there  Is  no  country  at  prefent 
worfe  governed. 

There  was  a  Scotch  fhip  from  Aberdeen,  which,  a  year  or  two 
ago,  went  to  the  Levant,  and  was  employed  to  carry  corn  from  dif- 
ferent parts  of  Africa  to  Alexandria.  And,  though  there  had  been 
a  great  many  ftiips,  before  this  Aberdeen  fhip,  employed  in  the 
fame  way,  yet,  when  fhe  came  to  Alexandria  with  her  cargo  of 
corn,  there  were  people  dying  every  day  of  hunger.  This  informa- 
tion I  had  from  one  of  the  failors;  who  told  me  that  the  fcarcity  vv-as 

not 

♦  Lib.  I.  cap.  6^. 


Chap.  XII.     ANTIENT   METAPHYSICS.  253 

not  owing  to  the  Nile  not  overflowing  as  ufual,  but  to  the  bad  go- 
vernment of  the  country,  and  the  negledl  of  agriculture  Now, 
how  extraordinary  a  change  is  this,  from  a  country  fo  populous 
as  antient  Egypt  was,  and  abounding  fo  much  with  corn  and  every 
other  neceffary  of  life,  to  a  country  fo  thinly  inhabited  as  Egypt  is 
at  prefent,  and  where  the  few,  that  are  left  in  it,  are  dying,  for  want 
of  bread  ?  Inftead  of  being  the  healthieft  of  all  civilized  coun- 
tries, it  may  now  be  faid  to  be  the  feat  of  difeal'e  :  For  the  plague  is 
feldom  out  of  it;  and  ahnoft  all  the  plagues,  which  at  different  times 
have  aflBlfted  Europe,  have  come  originally  from  Egypt.  And  be- 
fides  the  plague,  which  at  times  makes  prodigious  havoc  among 
them,  they  are  eaten  while  alive  by  worms,  and  particularly  by  one 
very  great  worm,  called  the  tape-worm  ''•. 


*  See  Haflelquift's  Travels. 


CHAP, 


254  A  N  T I  E  N  T  M  E  T  A  P  H  Y  S I  C  S.       Book.  IT. 


CHAP.        XIII. 


Recapitulation  of  what  has  been /aid  in  the  former  chapter. — Thefub- 
je£l  of  the  origin  of  the  arts  and  fciences  co?itinued. — The  art  of  go- 
vernment invented  in  Egypt,  and  brought  to  perfection. — Of  the 
neceffary  arts  of  life  there  invented. — Language  alfo  will  be  fhown 
to  have  been  there  invented. — The  ufe  offre  difcovered in  Egypt;  — 
and  the  ufe  of  it  in  making  glafs,  which  was  unknown  to  the  Greeks 
and  Romans. — Glafs  coloured  like  precious  flones,  alfo  known  to 
them  ; — Ukewife  the  hatching  of  chickens  without  incubation. — Of 
the  art  of  mufic : — It  was  praElifed  in  Egypt  for  the  befl  purpofes  : 
— ^s  it  was  praBifed  there ,  it  ivas  alfo  there  invented.  —  The  prac- 
tice of  it  very  antient  in  Egypt. — //  was  invented  under  the  Da- 
/  mon  Ki?igs, — and  was  preferved  with  the  greatefi  care,  and  no  in- 
novation of  it  ftffered.—For  this  purpofe,  there  mujl  have  been  a 
notation  of  it. — An  art  of  mufic  of  very  dificult  invention,  being 
the  application  of  numbers  to  the  tones  of  the  human  voice  or  of  in- 
fruments, — a  fhort  account  given  of  the  difficulty  of  the  invention. 
— //  could  only  have  been  invented  in  a  country  fuch  as  Egypt,  where 
arts  and  fciences  were  cultivated. — The  Greek  mufic  no  betttr  than 
the  mufic  of  the  Hiirons,  till  Pythagoras  brought  the  art  into  Greece 
from  Egypt. — From  thence  they  only  got  the  Diatonic  Scale. — To 
this  they  added  the  Chromatic  and  the  Enharmonic. — This  refne- 
ment  of  mufic  not  fo  proper  for  the  ufeful  purpofes  to  ivhich  the  E- 
gyptians  applied  it.  —  The  Greeks  bad  alfo  modes  of  mufic,  fuch  as 
the  Dorian,  the  Phrygian,  and  Lydian — The  writing  art  more  con- 
nected with  language  than  mufic. — It  is  language  not  pronounced. 
— A  wonderful  art,  by  which  founds  are  made  vifible, — a  progrefs 

in 


Chap.  XIII.    ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  255 

in  the  ivrititig  art  as  in  every  other. — Atjirjl^  the  ideas  ivere  di- 
rectly reprefented^  by  Jigures  natural  or  fymboUcal. — Ihefc  lajl 
•were  ivhat  is  called  Hieroglyphics. — Of  the  ajjijlance  given  to  our 
intellefl  by  our  fenfes^  and  hoiv  wonderfully  the  t-wo  concur  to  carry 
on  man  in  the  purfuit  of  knoivledge. — 'The  advantages  of  the  ivrit- 
ing  art. — This  art  inventea  in  Egypt  by  a  Dcemon.,  called  Theuth. 
— But  he  invented  only  the  notatiofi  of  the  elemental  founds  by  ivrit- 
ten  characters. — The  analyfs  of  language.,  into  elemental  founds^  was 
before  his  time.,  under  the  Dcemon  Kings. 


IN  the  preceeding  chapter  I  have  given  a  pretty  full  account  ot 
the  country  of  Egypt  and  the  people,  and  particularly  of  their 
government,  oi  which  1  have  faid  a  great  deal,  I  hope  the  reader 
v^dll  not  think  too  much,  as  it  is  a  thing  fo  eflential  in  the  hiftorj' 
of  man,  that  without  it  there  could  have  been  no  civil  fociety,  nor 
confequently  any  progrefs  made  by  man  in  this  life  towards  a  better 
in  the  world  to  come.  I  go  on  now  W'ith  what  is  the  proper  fub- 
jeft  of  this  book, — the  origin  of  arts  and  fciences.  Of  one  of  thefe, 
and  that  without  which  other  arts  and  fciences  never  could  have 
been  invented,  and  of  which,  therefore,  I  have  treated  at  fo  great 
length,  I  mean  the  laft  mentioned  art  of  government,  I  think  it  is 
evident,  that  Eg)"pt  muft  have  been  the  parent  country ;  for,  as  it 
was  the  oldeft  civilized  country,  they  could  not  have  borrowed 
the  art  from  any  other,  and  therefore  they  muft  have  invented  it 
themfelves ;  and,  1  chink,  I  have  fhown,  that  they  not  only  invent- 
ed it,  but  brought  it  to  the  greateft  perfeAion.  In  the  preceeding 
chapters  I  have  treated  of  other  arts,  which  they  invented,  particu- 
larly the  art  of  agriculture ;  and,  I  think,  I  have  fhown  that  we 
owe  to  them  the  bread  we  eat,  and  the  wine  and  the  ale  we  drink.  I 
think  1  have  alfo  fhown,  that  we  owe  to  them  the  clothes  we  wear, 

and 


256  A  N  T  I  E  N  T   M  E  T  A  P  H  Y  S  I  C  S.       Book.  II. 

and  that  we  have  been  alfo  taught  by  them  to  make   that  artificial 
defence  againft  the  weather,  which  we  call  a  houfe^  inflead  of  thofe 
rocks  and  caves  which  were  the  only  protedion  that  men  had  againft 
the  injuries  of  the  weather  in  the  natural  ftate.     And  in  this  way, 
I  think,  I  have  fhown,  that  the  Egyptians  were  the  inventors  of  all 
the  neceflary  arts  of  life  in  the  civilized  ftate.     And  if  I  can  further 
prove  that  they  were  the  inventors  of  language,  without  which   no 
other  art   could   have   been   invented,  I   think  I  fhall  have  proved, 
what  I  have  frequently  thrown  out  in  the  courfe  of  this  work,  that 
Egypt  was  the  parent  country  of  all  arts  and   fciences,  arid  even  of 
civil  fociety  itfelf,  which  could  not  have  been  formed  or  carried  on 
without  the  ufe  of  language.     For  the  purpofe   of  agriculture   and 
building,  metallurgy  was  neceflary.     The  Egyptians,  therefore,  firft 
taught  men  to  dig  into  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  and  from  thence  to 
bring  forth   metals.      But   thefe  could  have  been  of  little  or  no  ufe 
without  the  ufe  of  fire,  a  thing,  as   I  have  ftiown  *,  unknown  to 
nations  who  are  fo  far  advanced  in  the  civil  life,  as  to  have   got  the 
ufe   of   fpeech.     Of.  this   fo   ufeful   invention,    therefore,   we  muft 
give  the  honour  to   the   Egyptians.      And   there   was   one   ufe  of 
fire,  which   was  unknown  to  the   Greeks   and    Romans,   but  was 
pradiifed   in   Egypt,    1   mean    the    making    of  glafs ;    for    Maillet, 
the  French  Conful   in   Egypt,   in   the  account   he  has  given  us  of 
that  country,  tells  us,  that  he  has  feen  windows  of  glafs  in  fome 
cafes  of  mummies.     We  owe,  therefore,  likewife  to  the  Egyptians 
this  invention,  which  in  modern  times  has  been  of  fo  much  ufe  and 
ornament  to  us.     And  the  fame  Maillet  tells  us,  that  there  has  been 
found,  in  the  cafes  of  fome  mummies,  pieces  of  glafs  coloured,  re- 
fembling  precious  ftones,  like  the  French  pafte.     And   there   is   the 
art  of  hatching  chickens  and  other  fowls  in    ovens  without  the  in- 
cubation of  the  females,  which  was  difcovered  in  Egypt,  as  Diodor- 

us 

*  Page  146.  of  this  vol. 


Chap.Xm.     ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  257 

us  Siculus  informs  us  ''',  and  which,  as  he  obferves,  muft  have  multi- 
plied very  much  the  breed  of  fowls.  This  fecret  is  known  in  Eu- 
rope, and  has  been  practii'ed  by  way  of  curiofity,  but,  as  travellers 
informs  us,  is  ftill  a  common  pra<3:ice  in  Egypt. 

Hitherto,  the  arts  I  have  mentioned,  invented  in  Egypt,  are  arts 
of  ufe,  fome  of  them  of  the  greateft  ufe,  fuch  as  agriculture  and  the 
other  arts  conned:ed  with  it;  others  of  them  arts  of  conveni'Snce, 
and  fome  of  ornament  merely.  But  I  am  now  to  proceed  to  fpeak 
of  an  art  of  abfolute  necefuty  in  the  civilized  life,  without  which 
there  could  have  been  no  civility,  nor  any  arts  invented  worth  men- 
tioning. By  this  defcription  the  reader  will  underftand,  that  I  mean 
language  ;  which,  I  fay,  was  invented  in  Egypt,  and  formed  into  an 
art  there,  as  well  as  the  other  arts  I  have  mentioned.  But,  before 
I  come  to  fpeak  of  it,  I  will  mention  another  art,  which  is  one  of 
the  fmeft  of  the  liberal  arts,  being  that  which  gives  us  the  greateft 
pleafure,  and  which,  if  properly  applied,  may  be  made  highly  ufe- 
ful.  The  art  I  mean  is  mufic.  This  art,  as  I  have  fhown,  is  fo 
much  connected  with  language,  that  there  cannot  be  a  perfect  lan- 
guage, which  is  not  more  or  lefs  mufical  f  ;  and,  therefore,  it  is 
not  improper  to  fpeak  of  the  invention  of  it,  before  I  come  to  fpeak 
of  the  invention  of  language. 

That  this  an  was  praclifed  in  E^ypt,  and  for  a  very  good  pm-- 
pofe, — the  infpiring  fentlments  of  devotion,  as  I  have  oblerved  elfe- 
whereif,  is  a  faft  that  cannot  be  difputed,  being  attefted  both  by 
Herodotus  and  Plato.  And  Plato,  in  the  pafi'age  I  have  quoted  from 
him,  fays  II,  that  it  was  employed  for  another  excellent  purpofe,  the 

Vol.  IV.  K  k  forming 

*  Lib.  I.  cap.  61. 
t  Page  117. 
J  See  p.  167.  and  i68^ 
!t  Ibid. 


25§  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.         Book  IT. 

forming  the  manners  of  the  youth.  Now,  as  it  was  an  art  pradtil- 
ed  in  Egypt,  I  fay  it  was  invented  there,  as  well  as  the  other  arts  I 
have  mentioned.  For  Herodotus  tells  us,  that  they  borrowed  no- 
thing from  other  countries ;  and,  indeed,  there  was  no  other  coun- 
try in  thofe  antient  times,  from  which  they  could  have  got  any  art 
fuch  as  that  of  mufic  ;  which  was  an  art  of  very  antient  pradtice  in 
Egypt.  And  the  invention  of  it  goes  back  to  their  Dsemon  Kings  : 
For  Plato  tells  us,  that  they  had  fongs  of  Ifis,  which  were  10,000 
vears  old  ;  and  of  this  fo  antient  mufic  no  alteration,  he  tells  us, 
was  permitted.  It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  as  early  as  the  dayb  of 
Ifis,  mufic  in  Egvpt  mull  have  been  reduced  to  an  art ;  and  not 
pradifed,  as  we  know  it  is  in  barbarous  countries,  without  any  art 
at  all ;  for  otherwife,  I  think,  it  could  not  have  been  preferved  with 
fo  much  accuracy.  And,  I  think,  it  is  highly  probable,  that  they 
had  a  notation  of  mufic  as  well  as  we  have ;  without  which  it  could 
not  well  have  been  preferved  fo  religioufly  (as  we  muft  fuppofe  it 
was)  in  the  memories  and  voices  of  men  for  fuch  a  prodigious  num- 
ber of  years. 

That  men  have  naturally  a  perception  of  the  difference  of  acute 
and  grave  in  founds,  and  that  they  can  make  that  diftinclion  by 
their  own  voices,  is  a  faclt  which  cannot  be  difputed.  But  I  do  not 
for  that  fay,  that  men  naturally  ling,  that  is  to  fay,  compofe  acute 
and  grave  founds  together,  fo  as  to  make  what  we  call  a  tune;  but 
this,  I  fay,  they  learnt  by  imitation  of  birds,  (man  being,  as  Arif- 
totle  has  told  us,  the  moft  imitative  of  all  animals,  and  particularly 
by  the  voice).  And  this  was  confirmed  to  me  by  the  Wild  Girl  I 
faw  in  France,  who  told  me  that  the  people  in  her  country  learnt 
to  fing  in  that  way.  But  the  practice  in  every  art  precedes  the 
art :  And  therefore  I  am  perfuaded,  that  men  fung  a  great  while, 
in  the  way  I  have  mentioned,  before  they  had   any  art  of  mufic. 

Before 


ehap.XIII.     ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS,  259 

Before  fuch  an  art  could  be  invented,  the  tune  or  fong  muft  firft  be 
analyfed  into  its  elementarv  notes ;  and  then  we  mull  difcover  what 
the  ratio  is  of  thofe  notes  to  one  another;  that  is  in  other  wcr' 
we  muft  apply  arithmetic  and  the  doctrine  of  ratios  to  the  diiff  .  '. 
tones  of  the  human  voice,  or  of  any  inftruaient  of  muiic.  To  do 
this,  and  likewiie  to  make  the  analyfis,  which  muft  neceffarily  pre- 
cede it,  muft  appear,  at  tirft  fight,  a  matter  of  great  art  and  fcience. 
But  even  this  is  not  all ;  for  as  the  acute  notes  rife  above  the  grave 
in  an  infinite  progreffion,  to  which  nature  has  fet  no  bounds,  in  the 
fame  manner  as  numbers  increafe  in  iiifinitiim^  it  was  the  bufinefs  of 
fcience  to  fet  bounds  to  infinity  in  this  as  well  as  in  other  things. 
And  this  it  has  done  by  ftoppmg  at  what  is  called  the  odave.,  (that  is 
when  the  acute  note  is  to  the  grave,  as  tisjo  to  cne^  which  is  the  firft 
multiple  ratio),  and  making  it  a  new  fundamental,  and  from  it  count- 
ing upwards  as  we  did  from  the  firft  fundamental,  and  fo  going  on 
from  one  odtave  to  another:  In  the  fame  manner  as  in  numeration  we 
go  on  till  we  come  to  the  decade,  and  there  we  ftop,  and  reckon  from 
it,  as  we  did  from  unity,  faying  10  and  i,  10  and  2,  &c. ;  and  fo  v,'e 
go  on  till  we  come  to  another  decade;  and  in  this  manner  we  reckon, 
proceeding,  from  decade  to  decade,  to  numbers,  which  we  denominate 
by  the  names  of  hundreds,  that  is,  ten  decades ;  and  then  from  hun- 
dreds to  thoufands,  which  are  compofed  of  ten  hundreds ;  and  fo 
on.  To  explain  fuch  a  progreffion  at  more  length,  in  the  matter  of 
mufic,  does  not  belong  to  a  work  of  this  kind.  But,  I  think,  I 
have  faid  enough  to  {how,  that  mufic  could  not  be  reduced  to  an 
art,  and  what  is  called  a  gamut,  or  fcale  of  mufic,  formed,  except  in  a 
country  fuch  as  Egypt,  where  there  was  a  body  of  the  beft  men  of 
the  nation  fet  apart  for  the  cultivation  of  arts  and  fciences,  and  where 
fo  many  other  arts  and  fciences  were  difcovered. 

The  mufic  of  the  Greeks,  while  they  were  yet  barbarians,  rofe 
no  higher  than  the  mufic  of  the  Hurons  in  North  America,  that  is  to  a 

K  k  2  fourth. 


26o  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  Book  IT. 

fourth.  And,  I  am  perfuaded,  they  knew  not  any  more  than  the  Hu- 
rons,  what  a  fourth  was,  viz.  that  it  was,  with  refped:  to  the  fundamen- 
tal, in  the  ratio  of  three  to  four.  It  is  a  fad  not  difputed,  that  it  was 
Pythagoras  who  taught  them  to  raife  their  mufic  to  an  oftave;  and,  I 
cannot  doubt  of  his  having  brought  that  difcovery  with  him,  as  well 
as  many  others,  from  Egypt,  where  he  was  2  2  years.  At  the  fame 
time,  1  am  perfuaded,  that  he  gave  them  a  fcale  of  mufic,  and  taught 
them  the  ratios  that  the  feveral  notes  bear  to  one  another.  And 
thus  the  Greeks  learned  the  Diatonic  fcale  of  mufic,  which,  I  am 
perfuaded,  was  at  firft  their  only  mufic  ;  as  I  believe  there  was  no 
other  at  any  time  known  in  Egypt.  But  the  Greeks,  though  they 
got  from  Egypt  not  only  the  neceifary  arts  of  life,  but  the  elements 
alfo  of  the  liberal  arts,  fuch  as  painting  and  ftatuary,  and  of  mufic 
among  the  reft,  having,  as  I  have  elfewhere  obferved,  a  genius 
peculiarly  fuited  to  thofe  arts,  made  refinements  and  improvements 
upon  them,  and  particularly  with  refpedt  to  mufic  ;  for  they  added 
to  the  Diatonic  fcale,  by  which  the  tone  was  only  divided  into  two 
parts,  or  femitones,  a  fcale,  which  they  called  Chromatic,  by  which 
the  tone  was  divided  into  three  parts;  and,  not  flopping  there,  they  add- 
ed another  they  called  the  Enharmonic,  by  which  the  tone  was  divid- 
ed into  four  parts.  By  thefe  refinements,  their  mufic  was  no  doubt 
•more  foft  and  delicate,  and  more  proper  for  pleafing  the  delicate  ear 
of  the  Greeks,  but  not  fo  proper  for  the  purpofes  to  which  the  E- 
gyptians  applied  their  mufic — Devotion,  and  the  inftruftion  of 
youth.  For  thefe  purpofes  the  mufic  muft  be  fuch  that  it  can  be 
eafily  apprehended  by  the  vulgar  and  even  by  children  :  Whereas 
the  refinements,  the  Greeks  made  upon  mufic,  were  fuch,  that  even 
thofe  who  had  ftudied  the  art  among  them,  denied,  or  at  leaft  doubt- 
ed, that  fuch  a  note,  as  the  fourth  part  of  a  tone,  could  be  executed 
by  any  voice  or  inftrument,  or  could  be  perceived  by  the  ear;  and  not 
content  with  thefe  refinements  upon  the  Egyptian  mufic,  they  add- 
ed 


Chap.  XIII.     ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  261 

ed  what  they  called  modes,  fuch  as  the  Dorian,  Phrygian,  and  Ly- 
dian. 


Bfefore  I  come  to  fpeak  of  the  invention  of  language,  I  will  men- 
tion another  art,  which  has  a  much  greater  connexion  with  langu- 
age than  mulic  ;  for  it  is  language  itielf,  only  in  a  different  form, 
not  being  pronounced  as  language  is.  The  art  I  mean  is  the  writ- 
ing art,  which,  though  ii  was  invented  in  order  of  time  after  lan- 
guage, yet,  is  fo  conneded  with  that  art,  that  I  think  it  leads  to 
the  difcovery  of  the  invention  of  language.  By  language,  as  I  have 
faid,  our  ideas  are  made  audible  :  But  by  the  writing  art  they  are 
made  vifible  ;  not  directly  and  immediately,  but  by  the  intervention 
of  the  founds  of  the  words  which  are  marked  by  certain  characters, 
that  are  perceived  by  the  fight.  As  there  muft  have  been  a  progreG 
in  all  the  arts,  the  writing  art  began  by  making  the  ideas  themfelves 
an  objedt  of  fight,  diredlly  and  immediately,  without  the  intervention 
of  the  founds  by  which  they  are  exprefled.  The  firft  writing,  there- 
fore, was  a  kind  of  painting,  whereby  the  fubjeft  of  the  idea  v/as  re- 
prefented  as  it  really  exifted.  In  this  way  the  Mexicans  wrote  when 
the  Spaniards  firft  came  among  them  j  and  I  am  perfuaded  this  was 
the  firft  writing  in  Egypt.  But  fuch  writing  could  only  reprefent  cor- 
poreal objedts,  which  had  form  and  figure  that  could  be  painted;  hut 
could  not  reprefent  things  immaterial,  fuch  as  the  thoughts  of  men, 
their  fentiments  and  pafTions.  This  could  only  be  done  by  figura- 
tive, or  fymbolical  reprefentations  of  fuch  things :  And  we  are  fure 
that  this  was  pradifed  in  Egypt,  as  there  are  many  remains  of  it  in 
that  country  to  be  feen  at  this  day  ;  and  it  was  ufed  in  flicred  thinf^s 
even  after  the  alphabetical  writing  was  introduced,  and  from  thence 
it  was  called  hieroglyphical  writing. 

And  here  the  reader  may  obferve,  how  wonderfully  our  intellec- 
tual part  is  connected  with  our  fenfitive.      From   our   fenfes  all  our 

knowledfi:? 


262  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  Book.  II. 

knowledge  in  this  life  is  derived  ;  for  they  furnifh  the  materials  of 
which  our  ideas  are  compofed.  But,  as  of  our  ideas  no  art  or  fci- 
encc  could  have  been  formed  without  the  communication  of  thofe 
ideas  to  one  another,  our  fenfes  have  likewife  furnifhed  the  Aans 
of  that  communication ;  firft  by  language,  by  which  our  ideas  are 
made  audible  ;  and  fecondly  by  wiitlng,  by  which  they  are  at  firft 
made  vifible  by  pidlures  and  fymbols  ;  and  then  by  that  wonderful 
art,  by  which  the  founds  of  the  words  expreffing  the  ideas,  are  made 
vifible ;  and  fo  the  ideas  are  conveyed,  not  only  to  the  abfent,  at  the 
greateft  diilance,  but  to  the  lateft  pofterity,  and  with  the  ideas  the 
language  in  which  they  are  exprefled.  And  in  this  way  the  pro- 
grefs  of  man  in  this  life  towards  a  better,  has  been  wonderfully  pro- 
moted ;  and  to  this  progrefs,  as  we  have  feen,  both  his  intelle(3:  and 
his  fenfes  have  concurred,  and  affifted  one  another. — But  to  return 
to  the  writing  art. 

That  this  wonderful  art  of  alphabetical  writing,  by  which  not 
ideas  only  were  made  vifible,  which   is   the   cafe   of  hieroglyphical 
writing,  but,   what   is  much  more  wonderful,  the  founds  by  which 
ideas  are  exprefled,  were  invented  in  Egypt,  I  think  there  can  be  no 
doubt,  if  Plato   had   not  told  us  fo  in  more  than  one  place  *.     Be- 
fore an  alphabet  could  be  invented,  the   language   muft   have   been 
analyfed  into  its  elemental  founds.     Now,  analyils  is   a  great  work 
of  fcience,  and  indeed   the   foundation   of  all  fcience ;  fo  that  this 
analyfis  could  not  have  been  made,  but  in  a  country  where  arts  and 
fciences  were  cultivated,  which,  in  thofe  antient  times,  was  only  in 
Egypt.     Plato,  in  the  firfl  paffage   above   quoted,  tells   us,  that  an 
Egyptian,  he  calls  Theuth,  was  the  inventor  of  letters:  But  I  beUeve 
it  was  of  letters  only  ;  for  I  am  perfuaded,  that  before  his  time,  the 
art  of  language  in  Egypt  was  perfedted,  at  leaft  fo  far,  that  the  words 
were  analyfed  into  their  elemental  founds :    For  as  no  arts  or  fcien- 
ces 
*  Sec  vol.  IT.  of  Origin  of  Language,  p.  24.  and  229. 


Chap.Xm.     ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  263 

ces  of  any  value,  can  be  invented  or  cultivated  without  a  language 
of  art,  I  am  perfuaded,  that  fuch  a  language  was  a  very  early 
invention  In  Egypt,  as  early  as  their  firft  race  of  Djcmmi  Kings, 
of  which  Theuth  was  not,  but  only  of  the  fecond.  And,  I  think, 
the  anfwer  which  Plato  has  mentioned,  that  the  Egyptian  King 
made  to  Theuth,  when  he  boafted  that  he  had  found  out  an  art 
of  memory,  implies  that  he  had  only  invented  the  charailers,  by 
which  the  elemental  founds  were  marked,  not  the  elemental  founds 
themfelves.  For,  fays  the  King,  you  have  not  invented  an  art  of 
memoiy,  but  of  reminifcence  *.  Now,  that  could  not  apply  to  the 
difcovery  of  the  elemental  founds,  but  only  to  the  notation  of  them 
in  writing  "f.  But  fuppofmg  that  Theuth  had  difcovered  nothing 
more,  it  was  a  wonderful  difcovery,  as  there  could  have  been  no 
writing  art,  without  inventing  marks  for  thofe  elemental  founds. 
And  of  what  wonderful  ufe  this  invention  was,  we  may  judge,  by 
comparing  our  writing  with  the  Chinefe.  The  Chinefe,  in  order 
to  exprefs  their  ideas  by  writing,  are  obliged  to  make  ufe  of  80,000 
figures  of  one  kind  or  another;  which  to  know  and  diftinguifh  from 
one  another,  is  the  labour  of  the  life  of  their  learned  men  :  Where- 
as we  exprefs  all  our  ideas  in  writing  by  24  letters  or  alphabetical 
charaders,  by  which  we  not  only  communicate  the  ideas,  but  the 
founds,  that  is  the  language,  by  which  they  are  exprelTed  ;  while 
the  Chinefe  charafters  communicate  only  the  ideas,  but  not  the  lan- 
guage; fo  that  fome  nations  in  their  neighbourhood  ufe  their  writ- 
ten language,  but  know  nothing  of  their  oral. 


CHAP, 

*  Vol.  II.  of  Origin  of  Language,  p.  24.  and  25. 

f  See  what  I  have  faid  upon  the  difference  betwixt  the  two  difcoveries,  ibid.  p.  256. 
and  following. 


>64  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  Book  II. 


CHAP.         XIV. 


Of  the  diffuiihy  of  the  irroention  of  Language. — The  forming  of  Ideas, 
ftecejfarily  previous  to  the  invention  of  Language ;  as  there  can  be 
no  Language  y  "which  has  only  names  for  individual  things. — Of  the 
difference  betwixt  Particular  and  General  Ldeas. — Abflra£l  and 
General  Lleas  not  the  fame.  —  Of  the  material  part  of  Language, 
Articulation;  —  of  ivonderful  dificult  invention. — Nature  has  fur- 
jiifhed  the  materials,  with  which  other  arts  work ;  but  we  have 
created  the  materials  of  Language. — Wonderful,  that  we  fjould  have 
learned  to  articulate  by  any  praElice. — Speaking  the  mofl  wonderful 
thing  among  Men. — As  Men  fpeak  by  imitation,  they  muf  have 
been  taught  to  fpeak.  —  This  could  not  be  done  by  Alen  fuch  as  -we, 
—  but  they  muf  have  had  fupernatural  affflancc,  and  been  taught 
by  Dcemons. — A  Language  of  Art  could  not  have  been  formed  with- 
out Men  having  made  fame  progrefs  in  other  Arts  and  Sciences. — 
This  could  not  be  without  fome  kind  of  Language  being  ufed  before 
a  Language  of  Art  was  formed. — "The  formal  part  of  Language,  a 
mrfl  wonderful  part  of  the  Art. — There  mufl  be  words  in  a  Lan- 
guage of  Art,  to  exprefs  every  thing  in  the  World  of  Nature  and 
the  World  of  Art,  Lmmaterial  things  as  well  as  Material.  — Each 
Individual  thing  impcffible  to  be  expreffcd,—only  the  fpeciefes  of  them 
can  be  expreJfed.^Thefe  fo  many,  that  they  could  not  be  all  expreffed 
by  words  unconneBed  with   one   another.— But   they  are   conncSed 

■  together  by  the  three  great  Arts  of  Language,  Derivation,  Compo- 

fition,  and  Fle&ion. — Of  thefe  three,  the  greaief  Art  is  Fledloii.  — 

An  example  of  the  Art  of  it  in  the  Verb. — To  a  Language  that  is 

perfeSl  is  joined  the  pkafuit   Art   of  Mufc,  confif.ing  of  Melody 

and 


Chap.55:iV.     ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  265 

and  Rhythm. — This  common  to  feveral  of  the  Antient  Languages, 
atid  to  fomc  Modern  Languages. — Of  the  difference  betwixt  the 
Mufic  of  the  Chinefc  Language  and  that  of  the  Greek. — The  one  is 
Chanting  or  Singing ;  the  other  a  fne  Melodious  flow,  fuitab'c  to 
Language,  and  quite  different  from  common  Mufic. — Language  thus 
fhown  to  be  a  mojl  beautiful  as  well  as  ufeful  art,  and  of  the  great- 
efl  extent,  variety,  and,  at  the  fame  time,  regularity. 


THE  analyfis  of  language  into  its  elemental  founds,  naturalh/ 
leads  me  to  fpeak  of  the  invention  of  language  itfelf ;  a  moi': 
curious  and  wonderful  art,  as  well  as  a  mod  ufeful  one,  being  the 
parent  of  all  other  arts  and  of  all  fciences,  and,  at  the  fame  time,  ot 
moft  difficult  invention.  Of  the  difficulty  of  the  invention,  I  have 
faid  a  good  deal  in  the  firft  chapter  of  this  fecond  book  ;  but,  I  will 
add  fomething  more  here,  as  language  is  the  mofl:  important  part  of 
the  fubjedt  of  this  book,  which  is  the  hiftory  of  the  invention  of 
arts  and  fciences. 

The  invention  of  language  is  neceffarily  connected  with  another 
moft  important  part  of  the  hiftory  of  man,  fo  important,  that  with- 
out it,  he  could  not  have  been  a  man  at  all,  that  is,  an  intellediual 
creature.  What  I  mean  is  the  Ideas  of  things,  which  he  forms  from 
the  objects  of  fenfe  ;  for,  as  I  have  more  than  once  obferved  in  the 
courfe  of  this  work,  our  fenfes  are  the  inlets  of  all  our  knowledge 
in  this  life.  Ideas  are  fo  effential  to  language,  that  without  them 
there  could  be  no  language  at  all ;  for  a  language,  expreffing  only 
individual  objedls,  could  not  be  called  a  language.  Of  ideas,  I  have 
treated  pretty  fully  in  Chap.  VI.  and  VII.  of  Book  I.  of  this  vo- 
lume; where  I  hope  I  have  fatisfied  the  reader, — Teat  there  are  par- 
ticular ideas  as  well  as  general;  nor,  indeed,  can  general  ideas  with- 
out particular  be  conceived  to  exift  ; — That  abftradl  ideas  are  diffe- 

VoL.  IV.  L  i  -      rent 


266  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  Book  II. 

rent  from  general,  though  they  be  confounded  by  our  modern  phi- 
lofophers ;— And  that  an  idea  muft  be  firft  abftraded  from  the  par- 
ticular objea,  in  which  it  exifts,  before  it  can  be  generalized. 

According  to  the  method   in   which   I   have   treated   language,  I 
liave   divided  it  into  two  parts;  which  I  have  confidered  feparately, 
the  matter  and  x\\efon}2.     The  Matter  of  it  is  articulate  founds;  and, 
in  this  refped,  if  in  no  other,  it  muft  appear  to  the  philoibpher  the 
moft  wonderful  of  all  arts  :     For  in  other  arts,  as   I   have   ellewherc 
obferved*,  nature  has  furniihed  us  with  the  material,  fuch  as  wood, 
ftone,  and    metals  ;  whereas,   of  language   we   have   ourfelves  fur- 
nifhed  the  materials,  that  is,  articulate   founds,  w^hich   we   may  be 
faid  to  have  created.     Of  articulation  I  have  fpoken  at  confiderable 
length  in  the  chapter  above  referred  tof;  where  I  have  fhown  how 
complicated  an  engine  our  vocal  inftrument  is,  by  which  we  articu- 
late; fo  complicated,  that  it  is  wonderful,  that,   by  any  teaching   or 
pradic^,  we  fhould  have  learned  the  ufe  of  it,  efpecially  in  fyllables, 
where  feveral  elemental  founds  are  to  be  enunciated  together ;  as  in 
the  word  Jlrength  in  Engllfh,  in  which  there  are  no  lefs  than  eight 
elemental  founds,  and  feven  of  them   confonants  J.     The   material 
part  of  language  therefore,  I  mean  the  pronunciation  of  it,  I   hold 
to  be  of  fuch  difficulty,  that  it  never  could  have  been  invented  with- 
out fupernatui-al  afhftance  ;  and,  even  after  it  was  invented,  it  could 
not  have  been  learned  by  pradtice,  if  Man  had  not  been,  as  Ariftotle 
fays,  the   moft   imitative   of  all  animals,  and  more  imitative  by  the 
voice  than  in  any  other  way.     But,  even  imitative  as   he   is,  fpeak- 
ing,  though  the  moft  common  thing  among  men,  is,  as  I  have  elfe- 
where  obferved  |,  one  of  the  moft  wonderful. 


That 


*  Page  io8.  of  this  vol. 

I  Chap.  I.  of  this  book. — p.  109.  and  foUowJDg. 

1  Page  115.  B  Page  i2i- 


Chap.XIV.     ANTIENT  METx\PHYSICS.  267 

That  men  do  not   fpeak   naturally,   but  muft  have  learned  it  by 
teaching  or  imitation,  is  evident;  and  it  is  as  evident,  that  they  could 
not  have  taught  themfelves,  any  more  than  dumb  men   could   teach 
themfelves.     They  muft,  therefore,  have  been  taught  by  others;  but 
thefe   others   muft   have   been   firft  taught  themfelves.     Now,  who 
taught  them,  fmce  they  could  not  teach  themfelves  ?    And,  I  fay,  it 
was  not  men  fuch  as  they  were,  or  fuch  as  we  are,  but  fuperior  intelli- 
gences, fuch  as  the  Dasmon  Kings  of  Egypt  were.     I  hold  it,  there- 
fore, to  be  certain,  that  the  moft  barbarous  languages,  and  the  moft 
defe£live  and  impcrfeft  in  their  articulation,  were  not   invented   by 
the  nations  that  fpeak  them,  nor  by  men  fuch  as  we,  but  proceeded 
from  fuperior  intelligences.     I  have  faid,  in  other  parts  of  my  writ- 
ings upon  language,  that  men  in  certain   countries  may  have  heard 
fuch  birds  as  the  cuckoo  or  cocketvo^  to  which  the  articulation  of  thefe 
founds  is  natural,  and  may  have  imitated  thefe  founds  :   This,  how- 
ever, is  only  pofTible.    But  it  is  not  at  all  probable,  that  hearrng  thofe 
birds  only  at  certain  feafons  of  the  year,  and  then  only  occafional- 
ly,  men  Ihould  have  learned  to  have  imitated  thefe  founds;  for  it  is 
only  by  hearing  articulate  founds  daily  and  conftantly,  that  we  learn 
to  give  fuch  a  pofition  to  our  organs,  and  to  put  them   in   fuch   an 
adion,  as  to  make  us  pronounce   them.     But  if  it  were  pofTible    1 
think  it  impoflible,  that  out  of  fuch  fimple  articulate  founds,  as  the 
names  of  thofe  birds,   any  language,  even  the  moft  imperfed  in  its 
articulation,  could  have  been  formed.      What,  therefore,  I  have  all 
along  fuppofed,  in  the  courfe  of  what  I  have  written  upon  lano-ua^-e 
that  it  could  not  have  been   invented   by  men,  at  leaft  not   without 
fupernatural  afTiftance,  I  hold  to  be  certainly  true.     And  this  may 
fuffice  at  prefent,  with  refpedt  to  the  material  part  of  language. 

As  to  the  formal  part,  I  think  it  is  evident,  that  a  language  of  art, 
of  which   1  am  now  to  fpeak,  could  not  have  been  formed  except 

L  1  2  iii 


268  A  N  T I  E  N  T  M  E  T  A  P  H  Y  S I  C  S.         Book.  11. 

iu  a  country  where  arts  and  fciences  had  made  confiderableprogrefs. 
Now,  this  could  not  have  been  without  a  language  however  imper- 
feft  :  For,  language  is  undoubtedly,  as  I  have  often  faid  in  the 
courfe  of  this  work,  the  parent  ;u-t  of  all  other  arts  ;  as  it  is  by  it, 
(hat  men  have  communication  with  one  another,  and,  in  that  way, 
have  invented  arts.  It  is,  therefore,  I  think  evident,  that  men  muft 
have  had  a  language,  however  imperfeiS,  by  which  they  were  enabled 
to  form  a  more  perfedt  language.  And,  this  firft  language,  I  think  I 
have  iiiown,  miift  have  been  taught  them  by  fuperior  intelligences  ; 
and  I  alfo  think  it  is  very  probable,  that  thefe  fame  intelligences 
may  have  aflifted  them  in  the  formation  of  a  language  of  art. 

Tat  fonnal  part  of  language  confiders  words  as  fignificant.  And- 
here  the  art,  when  it  palTes  from  founds  to  things,  enlarges  itfelf 
wonderfully,  and  is  as  extenfive  as  our  ideas;  for  a  perfect  language 
niuft  exprefs  by  wotds  every  thing,  of  which  men  living  in  civil 
fociety  and  cultivating  arts  and  fciences,  can  have  any  idea.  Now, 
thefe  are  all  the  things  in  the  heavens  above,  on  the  earth  below,  and 
even  the  things  under  the  earth  and  in  the  air  or  waters,  which  are 
perceived  by  our  fenfes  :  And  befides  thefe  natural  objedts,  there 
are  all  the  artificial  works  of  men,  which,  in  their  intercourfe  in  civil 
fociety,  muft  likewife  be  expreffed  by  Avords.  So  that  language  muft 
comprehend  the  two  worlds,  of  which  I  have  fpoken  elfewhere  *, 
the  world  of  nature  and  the  world  of  art.  And  not  only  muft  it 
exprefs  material  things,  but  things  immaterial,  fuch  as  mind  and  the 
feveral  kinds  of  it,  the  intelle£lual,  animal,  and  vegetable,  and  their 
different  qualities  and  operations.  And  at  the  fame  time  that  it 
expreffes  the  fubjlancts  of  the  feveral  kinds  I  have  mentioned,  it 
muft  alfo  exprefs  their  accidcrJs^  and  their  relations  and  connexions 
with  one  another.  Now,  to  exprefs  each  individual  of  fuch  an 
infinity  of  things,  by  a  diftinifl  word,  is  a  thing  by  nature  impofli- 

ble, 

•  Page  i2. 


Chap.  XiV.     A  N  T I  E  N  T  M  E  T  A  P  H  Y  S I  C  S.  269 

blc,  at  lead  for  an  animal  of  fuch  limited  capacity  as  man  is.     It  is, 
therefore,  only  the  fpeciefes  of  things,  that  we  can  denote  by  words. 
Ho\V'  many  of  thefe  are  in  number  has   not   yet   been   afcertained : 
And  all  that  fcience  hitherto  has  been  able  to  do   in   that   matter,  is 
to  i-educe  them  to  genufes  of  the  higheft  order,  and  in  that  way  to 
clafs  and  number  them  ;  which,  as  1  have  Ihown*,  was  a  very  great 
work  of  fcience,  the  greateft  perhaps  that  ever  was  performed.     But, 
even  as  to  the  fpeciefes,  they  are  fo    many,  that  hitherto  they  have 
never   been,   numbered,   nor   1  believe  ever  v^dll.     The  grammatical 
art,  however,  has  reduced  them  to  certain  general   heads,  which   it 
calls  parts  if  fpeech,  and  has  made  them  eight  in  number.      Thefe, 
I  have  obferved,  may  be  called  the  categories  of  language;  and  thev 
admit   of  the   fame   general   divifion   into  fubftance  and  accident  f . 
The   fpeciefes   of  things   compi-ehended  under  the  parts  of  fpeech,. 
though  they  never  have  been  numbered,  we  are  fure,  are  fo  many,, 
that,  if  they  were  to  be  all  denoted  by  diftind:  words,  unconne<3:ed 
with  one  another,  there  is  no  memory  that  could  comprehend  them,, 
fo  as  to  make  a  ready  ufe  of  them.     It  was,  therefore,  of  ahfolute 
neceffity  that   fome    way  fhould   be   contrived,  by  which,  in  a  lan- 
guage of  art,  the  words  ufed  to  exprefs  lb  very  many  different  things, 
which  ia  the  Latin  language  amount  to  no  lefs  than  live  millions  J, 
fhould  be   fo   connedfed  together,  that  they  may  be  comprehended 
ii\  the  memory,  and  readily  applied  to  ufe.    This  wonderful  work  is 
performed  by  the  three  great  arts  of  language,  Derivation,  Compofi- 
tion,  and  Flection,  by  which  the   words  are  fo  connedled  together, 
•  both  in  found  and  fenfe,  that  the  knowledge  of  one  naturally  leads 
to  the  knowledge  of  another.     Of  thefe  three,   fledlion,  as  I   have 
elfewhere   obferved  || ,  is   the   greateft   art  ;    for   without  making    a 

new 

*  Page  76.  of  this  vol. 
f  Page  118.  ibid. 
t  Page  119.  ibid, 
11  Pa<je  126.  ibid. 


270  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  Book  II. 

new  word,  which  is  done  by  derivation  and  ccmpofition,  it  expref- 
les  by  fome  fmali  changes  very  many  circumftances  belonging  to  the 
thing  exprefled  by  the  word,  and  which  otherwife  muft  have  been  ex- 
prefled  by  different  words.  Of  this  great  art  of  language  the  verb  is  a 
remarkable  example;  for,  by  certain  changes  of  the  word,  it  expreffes 
numbers,  perfotis,  times,  and  befides  all  thefe,  the  d'ifpofitions  of  the  bu- 
ma7t  viind  ivith  refpeEl  to  the  aBion  of  the  verb  * ;  and  it  alfo  expref- 
fes whether  the  a£tion  be  done  or  fuffered.  To  exprefs,  by  any  flec- 
tion or  change  of  the  word,  all  the  various  fubje£ls  of  the  adlion  of 
the  verb,  is  by  nature  impoffible.  But  the  art  of  the  Greek  language 
has  gone  fo  far,  (and  I  think  it  was  impoflible  that  it  could  go  far- 
ther), as  to  exprefs,  in  that  way,  the  fubjecH:  of  the  adlion,  when  it 
happens  to  be  the  fame  with  the  adtor.  This  is  done  by  what  is 
called  the  middle  voice  in  Greek  f.  In  fliort,  the  verb  in  that  lan- 
guage is  fo  wonderful  a  piece  of  art,  that  I  knew  a  Profeffor  of  Di- 
vinity who  could  not  believe  that  it  was  the  invention  of  man,  but 
had  come  down  from  heaven  ready  made. 

Fledtion,  too,  in  a  language  of  art,  is  of  the  greateft  ufe  in  that 

moft  important  part  of  grammar,   called  fyntax ;   and   which   is  the 

completion  of  the  grammatical  art;  being  that,  without  which,  the  o- 

•  ther  parts  of  the  art  would  fignify  nothing,  as  by  it  the   words   are 

fo  conne£led  together  as  to  make  fpeech  or  difcourfe  %• 

But  the  art  of  a  perfed  language  does  not  confine  itfelf  to  articu- 
late founds,  nor  even  to  the  variety  of  things  expreffed  by  thofe 
founds  ;  but  it  joins  to  the  moll  ufeful  art  among  men,  the  moft 
pleafant  art ;  I  mean  mufic.     By  this  the  reader  will   underftand, 

that 

*  Page  119. 

\  See  further  concerning  the  wonderful  variety  of  the  fledion  of  the  verb,  p.  1 19. 

t  Page  1 19. —  I2C, 


Chap.XIV.     ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  27T 

that  I  mean  melody  and  rhythm,  fuch  as  that  of  the  Greek  language; 
of  which  I  have  fpoken  at  great  length  in  the  fecond  volume  of  the 
Origin  of  Language  *.  But  it  was  not  peculiar  to  the  Greek  lan- 
guage, but  common  to  all  the  antient  languages  of  art,  fuch  as  the 
Latin,  and  a  language  much  more  antient  than  either  the  t]treek  or 
Latin ;  I  mean  the  antient  language  of  Egypt,  which  w  as  carried 
to  India,  as  I  fhall  (how  in  the  fequel  of  this  work,  where  it  is  ftill 
preferved  in  the  Shanfcrit  language.  It  was  alfo  in  the  Hebrew 
language :  And  it  found  its  way  acrofs  the  Atlantic  to  North  Ameri- 
ca ;  where  the  favages,  as  we  call  them,  at  this  day  fpeak  both 
with  melody  and  rhythm  f.  The  Chinefe  language  is  fo  much  a 
mufical  language,  that  it  is  by  mufiCcd  tones  chiefly  that  it  diftin- 
guifnes  the  fignifications  of  its  monofyllables  ;  fo  that,  by  words  not 
exceeding  330  in  number,  it  has  contrived  to  exprefs  all  the  things 
belonging  to  a  hfe  of  civility  and  art.  But  there  is  this  material 
difference  betwixt  the  mufic  of  the  Chinefe  and  of  the  Greek  lan- 
guage, that  the  tones  in  the  Chinefe  rife  or  fall  above  or  below  one 
another,  at  once,  as  in  the  common  mufic,  fo  that  the  intervals 
betwixt  them  are  perceptible  by  the  ear;  which  makes  their  fpeakin<r 
very  much  refemble  chanting  or  fmging  :  Whereas  the  melody  of 
the  Greek  language  proceeds  by  Hides,  rifmg  in  that  way  to  s.  fifth, 
and  defcending  in  the  fame  way  to  the  common  level  of  fpeech ; 
which  muft  have  given  to  the  pronunciation  of  that  language  a  moil 
beautiful  flow,  luitable  to  the  nature  of  language,  and  dilHnguifli- 
ing  the  mufic  of  it  from  common  mufic.  Befides  thefe  advantages, 
which  the  mufic  of  the  Greek  language  has  over  the  Chinefe,  it  has 
rhythm  and  the  difl:lndion  of  long  and  Ihort  fyllables,  of  v.'hich  I 
could  obferve  little  or  nothing  in  what  I  heard  fpoken  of  the  Chi- 
nefe : 

*  Book  2.  chap,  4.  5.  &  6. 

f  See  upon  the  fubjeft  of  the  mufic  of  language,  p.  117.  and  the  paflages  there  re- 
ferred to. — As  to  the  melody  of  the  languages  of  America,  fee  vol.  VI.  of  Origin  of 
Language,  p.  132. 


272  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.         Book  IL 

nefe  :  And,  I  am  fure,  that  their  notes  do  not  rife  lb  high  as  a  fifth  ; 
fo  that  the  intervals  of  fo  many  different  tones,  by  which  they  dif- 
tinguifh  the  fignification  of  their  monofyllables,  muft  be  very  fmall, 
and  make  a  mufic  of  Httle  variety,  and  which  cannot  be  performed, 
except  by  a  very  good  voice,  nor  apprehended,  except  by  a  very 
nice  ear.  It  appears,  therefore,  to  be  a  language  neither  fo  pleafant, 
as  the  Greek,  nor  fo  fit  for  common  ufe.  And,  Iqftly,  the  mufic  of 
the  Chinefe  language  does  not  appear  to  be  governed  by  any  rules ; 
whereas  the  melody  of  the  Greek  language  is,  as  well  as  every  thing 
elfe  in  that  language,  governed  by  rules,  which  are  explained  at 
great  length  by  fome  Greek  grammarians,  particularly  by  Theodorus 
Gaza  in  his  grammar. 

Thus,  I  think,  I  have  fhown,  that  a  language  of  art,  fuch  as  the 
Greek,  is  not  only  a  moft  ufeful,  but  a  moft  beautiful  art,  and  of 
the  greatell  extent  and  variety ;  comprehending  all  nature  and  art, 
and  the  immaterial  as  well  as  the  material  world,  as  far  as  the  ufe  of 
fpeech  goes ;  and  all  digefted  in  the  greateft  order,  and  with  as 
much  regularity  as  variety.  And  not  only  is  a  language  of  art  the 
foundation  of  all  other  arts,  and  of  all  fciences,  but  it  is  intimately 
connedled  with  another  art,  of  the  greateft  importance  in  human 
life,  being  that,  by  which  only  a  free  government  can  be  carried 
on  :  I  mean  the  rhetorical  art,  of  which  the  chief  part  is  aEiion*^ — 
the  firfi:,  the  fecond,  and  the  third  quality  of  an  orator,  according  to 
the  judgement  of  Demofthenes.  Now,  in  adion,  the  chief  thing  is  the 
management  of  the  voice  in  pronunciation,  which  muft  depend,  firft, 
upon  a  proper  compofition  in  fentences  and  periods,  and  then  upon 
the  pronunciation  of  thefe  periods  : — So  that  it  is  language  which 
muft  give  to  oratory  its  greateft  force  and  influence* 

CHAP. 

*  See  what  I  have  iaid  of  Aftion,  and  or  the  fevcral  things  comprehended  under  that 
word,  in  Origin  of  Language,  vol.  VI.  p.  205.  and  following. 


Chap.XV.      ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  273 


CHAP.         XV. 

Reafons  for  the  Author' inftjling  fo  much  upon  the  difficulty  of  the  in- 
vention of  the  Art  of  Language. — One  reafon  is,  that  it  tends  to 
prove,  that  Language  muji  have  been  invented  in  Egypt,  ivhere 
fo  many  other  arts  were  invented. — Proved,  imo,  That  Language 
was  invented  by  the  Egyptians,  by  the  progrefs  they  made  in  other 
arts  and  in  fciences,  which  could  not  have  been  without  Language. 
— 2dly,  Articulation  could  not  have  been  invented  without  the  alTif- 
tance  of  tbofe  Damon  Kings,  whom  the  Egyptians  had. — 7tio  We 
are  fure  that  the  Egyptians  made  the  firjl  Jlep  in  the  invention  of 
an  art  of  Language,  by  analyfing  it  into  its  elemental  founds.— They 
did  tiot  fop   at  that  analyfis,  but  likewife  analyfed  the  words  into 

the  parts  of  fpeech. — But  thefe   words  at  frf  monofyllabical. /// 

this  fate  Language  went  to  China,  where  it  remains  unimproved, 
in  its  original  fate. — Hieroglyphics  went  there  alfo; — and  there  they 
are  fill  preferved. — In  Egypt  the  art  was  pcrfeded  by  the  inven- 
tion of  the  Alphabet,  and  of  a  Pdyfylldbical  Language,  formed  by 
Derivation,  Compoftion,  and  Flection. — This  compleated  the  Gram- 
matical Art,  and  the  Art  of  Language.  — The  Phanicians  the  only 
people  that  can  contend  with  the  Egyptians  for  the  invention  of  Lan- 
guage.— Sundry  reafons  given  why  they  were  not  the  inventors  of 
it.  —  I  mo,  Their   Genius   did  not  lead  them  that  way,  being   whol- 
ly employed  in  Trade,  and  fudious  only  of  Gain. — adly,   They  had 
no  Polity  ft  for  the  invention  or  cultivation  of  arts. — --tio,   Thev 
lived,  in  a?itient  times,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Egyptians,  and 
fo  may  be  fuppoftd  to  have  got  Language  and  other  arts  from  them. 
— 4to,  They  had  thtir  Religion  from  Egypt. —This  proved  by  fin- 
VOL.  IV.  M  m  ^ 


274  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  Book  II. 

dry  facts. — The  Egyptians,  therefore,  the  inventors^  a?id  the  ordy 
inventors  of  Language. — Hoiv  Language  and  other  arts  were  tranf- 
mitted  from  Egypt  to  other  Countries.,  is  an  important  part  of  the 
Hifory  ofMan.—T'bis  to  he  treated  of  in  the  folloiviug  Book. 


N  the  preceeding  chapter,  and  other  parts  of  this  work,  I  have 
been  at  great  pains  to  fhovv  the  diificulty  of  the  invention  of 
language  ;  and  this  for  feveral  reafons.  Fi'f,  it  is  an  art  of  fo  com- 
mon ufe,  (much  more  common  than  any  other  art  among  men),  and, 
in  appearance  of  fuch  eafy  ufe,  being  pradtifed  by  men,  vi'omen, 
and  children,  that  fome  believe  it  to  be  natural  to  men,  and  among 
others  a  great  writer,  of  whom  I  have  made  already  a  good  deal  of  ufe, 
and  fhall  make  more  in  the  fequel  of  this  work ; — Mon.  Gebelin, 
author  of  the  Monde  Primitif  who  believes  that  there  exifted  a  natu- 
ral language  among  men,  from  which  all  the  languages  now  fpoken 
are  derived. 

My  fecond  reafon  is.  That  as  language  is  the  parent  of  all  o- 
ther  arts,  without  which  no  other  art  or  fcience  could  have  been 
invented,  and  confequently  man  muft  have  remained  in  his  fallen 
ftate,  that  is  an  animal,  with  only  the  capacity  of  intelled,  fo  that 
he  could  have  made  no  progrefs  in  this  life  towards  the  recovery  of 
his  former  ftate,  it  was  proper  that  every  thing  concerning  this  art 
fhould  be  fully  explained,  particularly  the  difficulty  of  the  invention 
of  it ;  which  I  think  I  have  fhown  to  be  fo  great,  that  it  never  could 
have  been  invented,  if  a  wife  and  good  God  had  not  interpofed  to 
aifift  man  in  this  firft  ftep  of  his  progrefs. 

My  third  x^dSon  is,  that  it  tends  to  prove,  what  is  to  be  the  fubjed: 
of  this  chapter,  that  the  art  muft  have  been  invented  in  Egypt,  where 
fo  manv  other  arts  were  invented,  and  particulcwrly  mufic,  (an  art,  as  I 

have 


Chap.  XV.      ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  275 

have  fhovvn,  connedled  with  language),  which,  though  very  much 
more  natural  to  man  tlian  language,  as  Nature  furnilhes  him  the 
materials  of  which  it  is  made,  (and,  therefore,  it  is  pradtifed  by  the 
moft  barbarous  nations),  was  not  formed  into  an  art,  except  in 
Egypt,  where  a  moft  curious  analyfis  was  made  of  it  into  notes,  to 
which,  as  I  have  fhown,  numbers  were  applied  in  order  to  (how 
the  diftinction  of  them,  and  their  relation  to  one  another.  And  a- 
nother  art  was  likewife  invented  in  Egypt,  which  has  ftill  a  clofer 
connection  with  language;  I  mean  the  writing  art,  of  the  invention 
of  which,  I  have  treated  in  a  preceding  chapter  *. 

That  in  a  country  where  fo  many  other  arts  were  invented,  and 
thefe  not  fo  neceflary  as  language,  this  moft  neceflary  of  all  arts, 
lliould  have  been  invented,  muft  appear  at  firft  fight  highly  pro- 
bable. And  if  we  confider,  that  the  Egyptians,  as  Herodotus  fays, 
borrowed  nothing  from  any  other  country,  it  is  not  only  probable, 
but  of  abfolute  neceffity,  that  they  fhould  have  invented  an  art  of 
language,  without  which,  they  could  have  invented  no  other  art; 
for,  as  I  have  obferved  in  more  than  one  place,  in  the  courfe  of  this 
work,  it  was  only  by  the  intercourfe  and  communication  with  one 
another,  which  language  affords,  that  men  could  have  invented  any 
other  art. 

But  farther,  I  think  I  have  fliown,  that  the  matter  of  language, 
I  mean  articulation,  could  not  have  been  invented  without  fuper- 
natural  afliftance,  which  the  Egyptians  had  from  their  Daemon 
Kings.  Now,  without  articulation  no  language  can  exift,  not  even 
the  rudeft  and  moft  inartificial.  But  it  is  farther  proved,  that  the 
Egyptians  made  one  great  ftep  in  forming  an  art  of  language ;  and 
that  was  by  analyfing  it  into  its  elemental  founds,  and  fo  making  an 
alphabet;  which,  though  it  be   the  firft  thing  that  our  children  are 

M  m  2  taught, 

*  Cap.  13.  of  this  book. 


276  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  Book  II. 

taught,  and  therefore  may  be  fuppofed  to  be  as  eafily  invented  as 
taught,  yet  the  contrary  of  this  is  proved  to  be  the  truth,  by  the  ex- 
ample of  barbarous  nations,  who  have  not  ftudied  language  as  an 
art ;  and  though  they  have  the  ready  ufe  of  it,  both  in  converfation 
and  public  fpeaking,  neverthelefs,  have  not  fo  much  as  the  idea  of 
an  alphabet. 

The  Egyptians  having  gone  fo  far  in  the  invention  of  an  art  of 
language,  as  to  have  analyfed  the  found  of  it  into  its  firft  elements, 
we  cannot  fuppofe  that  they  would  flop  there,  but  would  proceed 
to  the  analyfis  of  the  founds  confidered  as  fignificant,  that  is,  the 
words    and  fo  difcover  what  we  call  the  parts  of  fpeech. 

But  even  after  that  was  done,  the  art  of  language  was  not  com- 
pleat;  for  there   muft   be  a  progrefs  in  all  the  arts,  and  particularly 
in  an  art  of   fo  difficult  invention  as  that  of  language;  in  the  inven- 
tion of  which  though   fupernatural  affiftance  was  given,  yet  it  was 
neceflary  that  things  fhould  proceed  according  to  that  order  and  re- 
gularity, by  which  every  thing  in  this   univerfe   is   conduded.     In 
the  natural  order,  therefore,  of  things,  the  firjR:  words,  which  men 
learned  to   articulate,  were   monofyllables ;  and   it    would  be  only 
in  procefs   of  time,  that   they  would   learn   to  join   monofyllables 
together,  into  words  of  feveral  fyllables.     The  firft  language,  there- 
fore, which   was   fpoken   in  Egypt,  was  a  monofyllabical  language, 
which  came  to  China  through  India,  together  with    their   hierogly- 
phlcal  writing;  and   they  are  both  preferved  in  China  to  this  day*. 
But  among  the  Egyptians,  a  people  much  more  ingenious  than  the 
Chinefe,  an  art  of  writing  by  alphabetical  charadters,  was,  as  we  have 
feen,  invented,  and  alfo  a  polyfyllabical  language  ;  the  coufequence 
of  which  laft  invention  was  the   difcovery  and  the  pradlice  of  the 
three  great  arts  of  language,  Derivation,  Compofition,  and  Fledion. 

In 
•  See  vol.  VI.  of  Origin  of  Language,  p.  141.  and  following,  alfo  p.  108. 


Chap.XV.       ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  277 

In  this  way  the  grammatical  art  in  Egypt  was  compleated  ;  and  the 
language  by  the  labours  of  the  colleges  of  Priefts,  men  fet  apart  for 
the  invention  and  cultivation  of  arts,  was  brought  to  that  perfection, 
in  which  we  fee  it  is  in  the  Shanfcrit,  preferved  ftill  among  the 
Priefts  of  India,  and  which,  as  I  ihall  Ihow  in  the  fequel,  was  the 
antient  language  of  Egypt. 

The  only  people  I  ever  heard  mentioned,  that  might  have  invented 
a  language,  as  well  as  the  Egyptians,  are  the  Phoenicians;  a  very  an- 
tient people  undoubtedly,  and  who  were  very  early  pofleffed  of  arts 
and  civility,  and  particularly  of  the  art  of  navigation,  by  which 
they  carried  their  commerce  to  very  remote  parts  of  the  world.  But, 
in  the  frji  place,  the  Phoenicians  had  no  fupernatural  afliftance  by 
Dsemons,  fuch  as  were  among  the  Egyptians,  without  which  I 
think  I  have  fhown,  it  was  impoffible  that  men  could  have  invented, 
articulation. 

idly^  I  fay  that  the  genius  of  this  people  did  not  incline  them  to 
invent  or  cultivate  arts  and  fciences ;  but  that  they  were,  as  Diodo- 
rus  informs  us*,  from  the  moft  antient  times,  ftudious  of  gain  ;  for 
Avhich  purpofe  they  applied  themfelves  to  trade,  and  were  the  great- 
eft  navigators  of  antient  times.  Among  fuch  a  people,  I  think  it  is 
impoffible,  that  an  art  of  more  difficult  invention  than  any  other 
fhould  have  been  difcovered.  And  though  they  had  a  genius  fitted 
for  fuch  an  invention,  they  had  no  polity  or  conftitution  of  govern- 
ment, like  the  Egyptian,  fuited  for  the  invention  and  cultivation  of 
arts. 

3/;o,  They  lived  in  antient  times,  as  Herodotus  informs  us  f, 
upon  the  Red  Sea,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Egyptians  •  fo  that 

what 
•  Lib.  5.  cap.  38. 

f  Lib.  7.  cap.  89. 


278  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  Book  II. 

what  arts  they  had,  they  may  have  got  from  the  Egyptians,  and  a- 
mong  others,  the  art  of  language.  That  they  were  intimately  con- 
neded  with  the  Egyptians,  and  had  adopted  many  of  their  cuftoms 
and  manners,  and  particularly  their  religious  cuftoms,  is  evident 
from  fundry  fads  recorded  of  them;  particularly  Porphyry  tells  us,  in 
his  book  De  Abfiinentia  *,  that  they  had  the  fame  veneration  for  the 
Cow  that  the  Egyptians  had,  and  would  not  on  any  account  eat  of 
her  flefh.  idiy^  Herodotus  informs  us  f,  that  the  image  which  the 
Phoenicians  had  upon  the  prow  of  their  galleys,  and  which  they  cal- 
led n«Ta'/;4o?,  was  very  like  to  the  ftatue  of  Vulcan  in  Egypt.  Now, 
this  fo  great  refemblance  could  not  have  been  accidental  ;  and  the 
probability  is,  that  they  had  taken  from  Egypt  this  tutelary  god  of 
their  velTels.  3^^j  In  Tyre,  the  capital  of  Phoenicia,  there  was,  as 
Herodotus  informs  us,  a  temple  of  Hercules,  as  old  as  the  city ; 
that  is,  2300  years  old,  in  the  days  of  Herodotus,  and  which,  there- 
fore, muft  have  been  of  the  Egyptian  Hercules,  as  the  fame  author 
rightly  concludes;  and  in  the  fame  pafTage  he  tells  us,  that  the  Phoe- 
nicians built  a  temple  to  Hercules  in  Thafus,  a  colony  of  theirs, 
five  generations  before  the  fon  of  Amphytrion:):.  And,  lajily^  we 
are  told  by  Jamblichus,  in  his  life  of  Pythagoras  i| ,  that  the  Hiero- 
phants  and  Myftagogues  of  Biblos  and  Tyre  got  all  their  religion 
and  philofophy  from  the  Egyptians.  It  is,  therefore,  evident,  that 
the  Phoenicians  had  their  religion  and  myfteries  from  Egypt ;  and 
if  fo,  I  think,  we  may  conclude,  that  they  had  their  language  and 
other  arts  from  the  fame  country. 

Thus  I  think  I  have  {hown,  that  language  was  invented  in  Egypt, 
and  in  no  other  country;  for,  if  it  was  not  invented  by  the  Phoenici- 
ans, 

•  Lib.  2.  cap.  II. 
t  Lib.  3. 
t  Lib.  2.  cap.  44, 
It  Cap.  3. 


Chap.XV.      ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  279 

ans,  as  I  think  I  have  proved  it  was  not,  there  was  no  other  people 
at  that  time  that  could  have  invented  it;  for  as  to  the  Babylonians, 
and  their  Priefts  the  Chaldseans,  it  is  well  known,  to  thofe  who  have 
fludied  antient  liiftory,  that  they  were  a  colony  of  the  Egyptians. 

But  it  will  be  faid,  fuppofmg  the  Egyptians  were  the  inventors, 
and  the  only  inventors  of  language,  and  that  the  antient  Egyptian 
language  was  that  primitive  language,  from  which  all  the  other  lan- 
guages of  the  world  have  been  derived,  how  fhould  this  language 
have  come  from  Egypt  to  all  the  other  countries  of  the  world?  This 
is  no  doubt  a  matter  which  deferA'cs  mature  confideration ;  and  as 
the  tranfmiffion  of  arts  and  fciences,  and  particularly  of  the  parent 
art,  language,  from  one  country  to  another,  is  a  very  important  part 
of  the  hiftory  of  man,  I  intend  it  for  the  fubjed  of  another  book, 
which  will  conclude  the  hiftory  I  have  undertaken  to  give,  of  arts 
and  fciences. 


BOOK 


28o  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.        Book  III. 


BOOK        III. 


Of  the  Tranfmiflion  of  Arts  and  Sciences  from  Egypt 

to  other  Countries. 


CHAP.        I. 


Egypt  fa  fituated  as  to  be  Jit  for  communicating  its  Arts  to  matiy  coun- 
tries of  the  Earth.'— It  communicated  by  land  with  Africa  and  A- 
fia.  — In  Africa  their  Arts  do  not  appear  to  have  made  any  great 
progrefs. — The  Lybians  quite  a  Savage  People.  — They  f poke  a  very 
barbarous  Language^  -which  they  may  have  formed  from  hearing 
the  Egyptian  Language  fpoken. — To  Afta  the  Egyptian  Language 
and  Arts  may  have  been  carried  by  Sefflris,  who  overran  even  the 
northern  parts  of  Afia^  and  efabli/ljed  a  colony  at  Colchis  upon  the 
Euxine  Sea. — The  Jews  learned  their  Language  from  Egypt ; — 
but  it  was  a  corrupt  dialect  of  the  Egyptian  which  they  fpoke. — 
This  proved  from  what  paffed  in  Egypt  when  Jacob  and  his  fami- 
ly came  there. — They  Icarricd  alfo  the  writing  Art  in  Egypt ^  and 
wrote  like  the  Egyptians  from  right  to  left. — From  Chald^ea  the 
Egyptian  Language  proceeded  to  other  parts  of  Afta. — The  Art  of 
Language,  though  of  more  difficult  invention  than  any  other  Jrt, 
is  of  very  eafty  communication. — Of  the  progrefs  of  the  Egyptian 
Arts  from  Egypt  to  Europe. — Sefojlris,  from  Colchis^  might  have 

gone 


Chap.I.  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  281 

gone  by  land  to  Thrace,  where  he  was.  —  But  the  eafier  and  JJjorter 
paffage  from  Egypt  to  Europe  nvas  by  Sea. — Of  Navigation  the  E~ 
^yptians  had  the  ufe  in  the  earliejl  times. — The  nearefl  Ifland  in  the 
Mediterranean  Sea  to  Egypt  was  Crete. — Thither  the  Egyptian 
Arts  frfl  went,  being  introduced  by  the  Idsei  Dadyli  and  the 
Curetes. — That  Religion  came  from  Egypt  to  Crete,  proved  by  the 
Samothracian  and  Eleifinian  My/leries,  being  well  knoiun  there. — 
Saturn  the  firjl  King  of  Crete,  being  dethroned  by  his  Son  Jupi- 
ter, carried  from  thence  the  Egyptian  Arts  to  Italy,  and  made 
a  Sattirniati  age  there. — Jupiter  ruled  in  Greece  as  well  as  in  Crete, 
— introduced  there  the  Egyptian  Arts. — Thefe  Arts  brought  into 
Greece  more  direSlly  by  Colonies  from  Egypt. — The  necejfity  of  Mi- 
gration from  fo //nail  a  Country  as  Egypt,  and  fo  populous. — Of  the 
two  Colonies  which  came  from  Egypt,  and  formed  the  nations  of  Athe- 
nians a7id  Arcadians : — Thefe  the  two  mofl  antient  nations  of  Greece. 
— From  Arcadia  came  a  Colony  under  Oenotrus,  that  fettled  in  Italy, 
and  another  under  Evander. — Froin  Arcadia  came  the  Pelafgi, 
who  introduced  a  great  deal  of  Civility  and  Arts  into  G  reece,  par- 
ticularly the  Writing  Art:~But  the  Egyptians  carried  their  arts  to  a 
Country  very  remote,  viz.  India.— This  thefubjcEi  of  another  Chapter. 


THE  firft  thing  to  be  confidered,  in  this  inquiry  concerning  the 
propagation  of  arts  and  Iciences  from  Egypt  into  other  coun- 
tries, is  the  fituation  of  Egypt  with  refpe£t  to  thefe  other  countries. 
If  it  had  been  fituated  any  where  in  the  extremities  of  eaft  or  weft, 
north  or  fouth,  it  could  hardly  be  fuppofed  that  its  arts  fliould  have 
made  any  great  progrefs  into  other  countries.  But  its  fituation  was 
as  favourable  for  that  purpofe  as  the  other  circumftances  that  I  have 
mentioned  ;  for  it  was  fo  frtuated  as  to  have  an  eafy  communication 
not  only  with  Africa,  a  part  of  which  it  was,  but  with  Afia  and  Eu- 
rope. By  land  it  had  a  communication  with  every  part  of  Africa  : 
Vol.  IV.  N  n  '  But 


282  A  N  T I E  N  T  M  E  T  A  P  H  Y  S  I  C  S.         Book  III. 

But  it  does  not  appear  that  the  Egyptian  arts  made  any  great  progrefs 
in  that  country ;  for  the  Lybians  were  in  a  favage  ftate,  as  late  as  the 
time  of  the  Jugurthine  war,  according  to  the  account  which  Salluft  the 
Roman  hiftorian  gives  of  them.  They  had,  however,  the  ufe  of  lan- 
guage; though  no  doubt  a  very  imperfedt  language,  refembling,  as  we 
are  t;old,  the  cries  of  bats.  But  that  they  got  it,  even  fuch  as  it  was, 
from  Egypt,  I  cannot  doubt;  for,  I  think,  it  is  impoffible,  to  fuppofe 
that  a  people,  fo  barbarous  as  they,  fhould  have  invented  that  artifi- 
cial way  of  communication  by  articulate  founds.  1  therefore  muft 
fuppofe,  that  they  learned  from  the  Egyptians,  or  from  fome  other 
nation  who  had  themfelves  learned  from  the  Egyptians,  to  diftin- 
guifh  and  vary  their  animal  cries  by  articulation,  which  when  they 
had  learned,  they  might  form  a  kind  of  language  themfelves,  very 
different  to  be  fure  from  a  language  of  art,  but  fuch  as  would  ferve 
the  purpofes  of  their  favage  life. 

With  Afia  likewife  they  had  an  Intercourfe  by  land  :  For  their 
King  Sefollris  overran  all  Afia,  even  the  northern  parts  of  it,  where 
he  left  a  colony,  at  Colchis,  upon  the  northern  part  of  the  Euxine 
Sea;  and  we  are  told,  that  he  alfo  conquered  the  Scythians. 

That  in  thofe  remote  countries  of  Afia  Sefoftris  introduced  fome 
of  the  Egyptian  arts,  or  that  they  came,  from  the  colony  he  left  at 
Colchis,  to  other  parts  of  Afia,  cannot,  I  think,  be  doubted:  And, 
even  before  he  overran  all  Afia,  there  is  the  greateft  probability  that 
fome  of  thofe  arts,  and  particularly  language,  had  come  to  thofe 
countries  of  Afia  neareft  to  Egypt,  fuch  as  Syria,  Chaldxa,  and 
Paleftine.  The  Jews  are  the  only  people  in  Afia,  of  thofe  early 
times,  of  whom  we  have  any  account  that  can  be  depended  on; 
and,  1  think,  there  is  evidence,  that  they  had  learned  their  language 
from  Egypt.  When  Abraham  went  to  Egypt,  we  muft  fuppofe 
that  he  could  make  himfelf  underftood  there:    Nor  could  Jofeph 

have 


Chap.  I.  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  283 

have  been  qualified  to  govern  Eg\^t,  or  even  the  houfehold  of  Po- 
tiphar,  if  he  had  not  underftood  the  Egyptian  language.  And,  when 
Jofeph's  brethren  w^ent  to  Egypt,  though  Jofeph  fpoke  to  them  by 
an  interpreter  *,  1  think,  it  is  evident,  he  did  {o,  only  to  conceal 
himfelf ;  for  they  fpoke  to  Jofeph's  fteward  without  an  interpre- 
ter f;  and  fo  did  Jacob  to  Pharoah  J.  At  the  fame  time,  I  am  per- 
fuaded,  that  the  Hebrew,  which  the  family  of  Jacob  then  fpoke, 
was  a  corrupt  dialedt  of  the  language  of  Egypt ;  for  we  know  what 
changes  language  fuffers  even  in  the  fame  nation,  and  almoft  always 
for  the  worfe.  But  when  a  language  travels  through  feveral  nations, 
as  the  Egyptian  muft  have  done  before  it  reached  Chaldsa  or  Ca- 
naan, it  muft  have  fuffered  great  alterations  and  been  much  corrupt- 
ed, not  fo  much  however  as  not  to  be  underftood  by  Pharoah  and 
the  Egyptians;  though  Jofeph,  in  order  to  conceal  himfelf,  got  an 
interpreter,  who  fpoke  to  his  brethren  in  their  own  dialed.  But,  I 
hold  it  to  have  been  impoflible,  that  the  family  of  Jacob,  or  any  of 
his  predeceffors,  living,  as  they  did,  a  paftoral  and  nomade  life,  could 
have  invented  a  language  of  art,  fuch  as  the  Hebrew  was,  though 
not  of  fo  great  art  as  the  Shanfcrit  or  the  Greek,  or  even  could  have 
learned  to  articulate  their  animal  cries,  or  to  invent  a  language  the 
moft  rude  and  barbarous  that  can  be  imagined.  That  the  Hebrews 
had  learned  the  writing  art  in  Egypt,  or  at  leaft  that  Mofes  had 
learned  it,  is  evident  from  what  palfed  at  Mount  Sinai]  and  accord- 
ingly the  Hebrews  wrote,  as  the  Egyptians  did,  from  right  to  left, 
not,  as  we  do,  from  left  to  right.  And  as  they  learned  to  write,  fo 
they  learned  to  fpeak,  from  Egypt ;  nor,  indeed,  was  there  any- 
other  country  where  they  could  have  learned  it.  In  the  fame  man- 
ner that  the  Egyptian  language  found  its  way  to  Chald^ea,  I  am  per- 

N  n  2  fuaded, 

*  Genefis,  chap.  42.  v.  23. 

f  Ibid.  chap.  43.  v.  19. 

I  Ibid.  chap.  47.  v.  8. 


284  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.         Book  III. 

fuaded,  it  travelled  over  a  great  part  of  Afia  :  For,  though  language 
be  an  art  of  more  difficult  invention  than  any  other,  it  is  of  eafier 
communication,  as  we  may  know  by  our  own  children,  who,  at  the 
age  of  two  or  three,  learn  to  fpeak  by  mere  imitation  without  any 
teaching:  Though  we  need  not  fuppofe,  that  thofe  nations  of  Afia 
learned  the  Egyptian  language  fo  perfectly  as  our  children  learn  our 
language  ;  but,  that  hearing  the  Egyptian  language  fpoken,  they 
got  fome  words  of  it,  and  having  thus  learned  to  articulate,  they 
formed  a  language  of  their  own,  as  I  have  faid  the  Lybians  did. 

As  to  Europe,  there  was  nothing  to  hinder  the  Egyptian  arts  from 
travelling  by  land  from  Colchis  to  Europe  ;  and,  befides,  Sefoftris,  as 
I  have  obferved*,  carried  his  arms  as  far  into  Europe  as  Thrace.  But 
the  eafier  and  fhorter  communication  with  Europe  was  by  fea  ;  and 
as  the  Egyptians  had,  in  the  earlieft  times,  the  ufe  of  navigation,  we 
cannot  doubt  that  they  went  to  Europe  in  that  way,  and  firft  to  the 
Ifland  of  Crete,  which  is  the  part  of  Europe  lying  the  neareft  to  E- 
gypt.  From  this  country  it  is  certain,  that  the  Greeks  got  their  re- 
ligion, civility,  and  arts.  Thefe  were  introduced  into  Crete  by  two 
races  of  men,  the  Idsei  Dadtyli,  and  the  Curetes.  But  where  did 
they  learn  them?  I  think  it  could  have  been  no  where  elfe  than  in 
Egypt ;  for  what  other  country  was  there  then  of  civility  and  arts. 
And  what,  I  think,  is  proof  pofitive,  that  thofe  two  races  of  men 
got  religion  as  well  as  arts  from  Egypt,  is  what  Diodorus  Siculus 
tells  us,  that  the  Samothracian  and  Eleufinian  myfteries  were  per- 
fectly well  known  in  Crete,  and  communicated,  to  thofe  who  defir- 
ed  them,  freely,  and  not  under  any  obligation  of  fecrecy.  Now,  that 
thofe  myfteries  came  to  Greece  from  Egypt  is  not  doubted ;  and, 
indeed,  from  what  other  country  in  the  world,  at  that  time,  could 
religious  myfteries  have  come  ?  Saturn  was  the  firft  who  appears 
to  have  eftablifhed  a  kingdom  in  Crete,  of  which  he  himfelf  was  the 

fovereign; 

*  Page  239.  of  this  vol. 


Qiap.I.  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  285 

fovereign  ;  and,  under  him,  the  Cretans  enjoyed  that  happinefs, 
which  men  enjoyed  in  the  firfl  ages  of  civility,  before  vices  and 
crimes, 

Et  belli  rabies  et  amor  fucceffit  habendl  *. 

And  from  Saturn  this  happy  age  was  called  the  Saturnian  age,  and 
by  him  was  earned  to  Italy,  where  he  introduced  the  Egyptian  ci- 
viUty  and  arts ;  for  he  was  dethroned  and  expelled  from  Crete  by 
his  fon  Jupiter,  and  took  refuge  in  a  part  of  Italy,  which,  from  giv- 
ing ihelter  and  concealment  to  him,  was  called  Lat'ium.  His  fon 
Jupiter  extended  his  dominions  to  Greece,  and  became  a  King  and 
a  great  God  there.  The  Greeks,  at  that  time,  appear  to  have  been 
in  a  ftate  altogether  barbarous,  and  no  better  than  wild  hearts,  and 
worfe  than  wild  beads  in  one  refpeft,  that  they  ate  one  another f. 
Jupiter,  therefore,  by  introducing  civility  and  arts  among  them,  may 
be  faid  to  have  made  men  of  them  ;  for  which  reafon,  he  was  inti- 
tied  the  father  both  of  gods  and  men.  But  of  the  Greek  gods,  and 
the  Cretan  traditions  concerning  them,  I  have  faid  a  great  deal  more 
in  a  differtation  upon  the  Antient  Hiftory  of  Greece,  which  I  have 
fubjoined  by  way  of  appendix  to  this  volume. 

If  there  were  any  doubt  of  religion,  civility,  and  arts,  having 
come  from  Egypt  to  Greece  by  the  way  of  Crete,  the  colonies, 
which  from  Egypt  came  to  Greece,  muft  prove,  I  think  incontefti- 
bly,  that  the  Greeks  got  civility  and  arts,  not  only  by  the  way  of 
Crete,  but  diredtly  and  immediately  from  Egypt.  The  Egyptians, 
living  in  fuch  a  happy  climate,  in  io  fruitful  a  country,  and  under 
fo  excellent  a  form  of  government,  muft,  as  I  have  fliown,  have 
multiplied  exceedingly ;  being  free  of  thofe  vices  and  difeafes,  and 

particularly 

*  Virgil,  ^neid.  8.  v.  327. 

t  See  upon  this  fubjeft  what  1  have  faid  on  p.  95,  and  139.  of  this  vol. 


286  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.         Book  IIL 

particularly  of  peftilential   difeafes,  which,  at   different  times,   have 
gone  near  to  depopulate  many  countries.     As  Egypt  was,  therefore, 
but  a  fmall   country,   no   more  than   a  valley  betwixt  the  Arabian 
mountains  on  one  fide,  and  the  Lybian  on  the  other,  in  fome  parts 
not  above  200  ftadia  broad,  that  is,  about   25   Englilh   miles  *,  it 
was   of  abfolute   neceffity  that   the   country  fliould   be   overftocked 
with  people  in  the  courfe  of  fo  many  ages,  and,  therefore,  that  it 
fhould  difcharge  itfelf,  by  fending  colonies  to  different  parts  of  the 
world.     Of  thefe,  Diodorus  Siculus  tells  us,  that  many  were  record- 
ed in  their  facred  books  ;  but,  of  which,  Diodorus  appears  to  have 
doubted.     But,  for  my  part,  I  fee  no  good  reafon  for  rejedling  the 
authority  of  thofe  books  in  any  thing,  but  particularly  in  this  mat- 
ter of  colonies,  which,  I  think,  it  was  of  abfolute  neceffity,  that  the 
Egyptians  fhould  have  fent   out  of  their  country.      Now,  two   of 
thefe  colonies  were  fent  to  Greece  in  very  antient  times,  and  form- 
ed the  two  moft  antient   nations   of  Greece,  the  Athenians,  who 
boafted  that  they  were  ax^royjovzi^  or  produced  out  of  their  foil,  and 
the  Arcadians,  who  pretended  to  be  older  than  the  moon,  U.soffiX'nvoiy 
as  they  called  themfelvesf.    From  this  laft  mentioned  country,  came 
a  colony,  under  QLnotrus,  to  Latium  in  Italy,  17  generations,  as  the 
Halicarnaflian  tells   us,  before  the  Trojan  war;  and,  at  a  latter  pe- 
riod, another,  from  the  fame  country,  came  under  Evander,  and  oc- 
cupied that  very  ground  upon  which  the   city  of  Rome  was  built:- 
So  that  here  we  have  civility  and  arts  again  imported  from  Egypt 
into  Italy.      From-  the  fame  country  of  Arcadia  came   originally  the 
Pelafgi,   who   were   a  very  wandering  people;   for  they  went  not 
only  from  Egypt  to  Greece,  but  to  Afia,  where  they  were,  as  Ho- 
mer informs  us,  at  the  time  of  the  Trojan  war,  and  alfo  to  Italy. 

They 
*  Herodot.  Lib.  z.  cap.  S. 
f  Thefe  two  colonies,  from  Egypt  to  Greece,  I  have  mentioned  in  vol.  5.  of  Origin 
of  Language,  p.  i  o  i . ;  apd  I  have  fppken  of  them,  at  great  length,  in  the  firft  vol.  of 
that  work,  from  p.  638.  to  p.  646.  of  2d  edition. 


Chap.I.  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  287 

They  are  are  laid  to  have  civilifed  Greece,  more  than  any  other 
people* :  And,  among  other  Egyptian  arts,  they  introduced  in- 
to Greece  the  ufe  of  thofe  antient  letters,  which  from  them  were 
called  Pelafgic,  and  were  ufed  by  the  Greeks  before  they  got  an 
alphabet  from  Cadmus,  which  they  ufed  in  latter  times,  but,  of 
thefe  migrations  from  Arcadia  I  have  treated  at  great  length  in  the 
appendix  above  referred  to.  I  will,  therefore,  in  the  next  chapter, 
proceed  to  treat  of  a  migration  of  the  Egyptian  arts  to  a  country 
veiy  much  more  diftant  than  any  I  have  mentioned,  I  mean  India, 
and  which,  if  it  be  true,  muft  put  an  end  to  every  doubt,  of  the  E- 
gyptians  having  carried  civility  and  arts  to  the  other  countries  I 
have  mentioned. 


CHAP. 

*  See  vol.  I.  of  Origin  of  Language  p.  6^6.  of  2d  edition. 


^^288  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.         Book  III. 


CHAP.         II. 


The  fim'tlarity  of  Polity^  Cujioms,  and  Manners^  between  nations  fo 
remote  as   Egypt  and  India^  wonderful^  atid  without  example^—— 
not  to  be  found  even  in  nations  contiguous. — The  frjl  refemblance 
isy  in  a  thing  fingular  to  both  nations^ — vi%.  the  divifion  of  the  peo- 
ple into  claffes^  according  to  their  feveral  occupations. — This  divi- 
fion in  India^  more  accurate  and  minute  than  in  Egypt. — Another 
Jingularity  in  ivhich  the  two  nations  agree  is,  the  veneration  of  the 
Cow.  —  Of  the  divifion  of  Time  into  Months  and  Years  \ — the  fame 
in  India  as  it  ivas  in  Egypt,  and  is  among  us. — The  divifion   into 
Weeks   not   necejfary  for   any  purpofes   oj  life,  yet  obferved  both  in 
India  and  Egypt. — The  days  alfo   confecrated  to   the  fame  planets 
and  in  the  fame  order, — The  conformity  betwixt  the  two  nations,  as 
to  the  ftgns  of  the  Zodiac,  mofl  extraordinary. — Of  the  Religion 
of  India. — The  fame  dijiinElion  7nade  there,  betwixt  the  Popular 
Religion   of  the   country  and  the  Religion   of  Philofophers. — The 
fall  of  man  maintained  by  the  Indians,  and  a  future  fate  of  re- 
wards and  punifhments, — alfo  the  doElrine  of  the  tranfmigration  of 
minds,  -which  came  originally  from  Egypt. — The  diet  and  manner  of 
life   of  the   Indians,  the  fame  as  in  antient   Egypt. — They  eat  no 
fief  3,  but  of  the  bcafs  which  they  facrifice. — They  drink  no  wine  or 
frong  liquors  ;  and  neither  did  the  Egyptians  in  very  antient  times. 
— The  fame  regard  for  the  animal  life  in  India  as  in  Egypt.  —  The 
killing  of  fow.e  animals  ivas  a  capital  crime  in  Egypt,  and  is  fo  in 
India. — There  a  mul&  is  impofed  for  the  killing  of  any  animal,  even 
Tygers. — A  refemblance  betwixt  the  two  nations  alfo  in  their  fefi- 
vals,  and  exhibitions  on  thofe  occafions. 

THE 


Chap.  II.        ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  -89 


THE  fimllarity  of  Polity,  Cuftoms,  Manners,  and  Opinions,  in 
two  countries  fo  remote  from  one  another  as  Egypt  and  India, 
is  fo  great,  as  not  to  be  parralleled  on  this  earth;  and  not  only  in  na- 
tions fo  diftant  from  one  another,  but  not  even,  I  believe,  in  nations 
the  neareft  to  one  another.  The  firft  fimilarity,  I  fhall  obferve,  is  a 
Angularity  in  the  conftitution  of  the  two  nations,  fuch  as  is  not,  nor 
ever  was,  in  any  other  nation  ;  I  mean  the  divifion  of  the  people 
into  different  claffes,  or  Cajis  as  the  Indians  c::ll  them,  conulling  of 
men  of  different  occupation?,  who  live  entirely  leparated  from  one 
another,  and  do  not  mix  by  intermarriages.  Of  thefe  claffes,  in  E- 
gypt,  I  have  already  treated  in  page  209,  and  following,  of  this  vo- 
lume; where  I  have  followed  the  divifion,  which  Diodorus  Siculus 
has  given  of  them,  into^-y^,  the  Priefts,  Soldiers,  Hufbandmen,  Shep- 
herds, and  Handicraftfmen.  Braffey  Halhed  in  his  Tranflation  of 
the  Code  of  Gentoo  Laws,  which,  by  the  orders  of  the  Eaft  India 
Company,  was  compiled  by  eleven  Bramins,  and  written  originally 
in  the  Shanfcrit  language,  makes  the  number  of  Cafts  in  India  to  be  no 
more  than  four :  The  firft  is  the  Bramins,  anfwering  exadly  to  the 
Priefts  of  Egypt;  and,  therefore,  they  are  faid  to  be  the  wafdom  of  the 
nation.  The  military  men,  or  Rajaput  race,  as  they  are  called,  com- 
pofe  the  fecond  clafs  ;  and  fo  far  the  divifion  of  men  in  India  cor- 
refponds  exadly  with  the  divifion  in  Eg^-^pt:  The  third  clafs  in  In- 
dia is  more  comprehenfive  than  the  fame  clafs  in  Egypt ;  for  it 
comprehends  not  only  the  huftjandmen,  but  the  fhepherds,  and  al- 
fo  thofe  who  deal  in  trade.  The  fourth  clafs  is  compofed  of  the 
meaneft  of  the  people,  or  Souders,  as  they  call  them,  who  pradice 
mechanic  arts,  and  are  by  Nature  deftined  to  ferve  and  to  labour*. 
But  thefe  four  claffes  are  fubdivided  into  different  cafts,  of  which 
I  have  been  told,  there  are  above  80  f  ;  So  that  the  divifion  of  the 
Vol.  IV.  O  o  •     people 

*  See  Mr  Halhed's  Preface  to  his  Tranflation,  p.  49. 

f  This  information  I  had  from  the  late  IMr  Frafer,  who  wrote  the  life  of  Kouli  Chan. 


291: 


ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.        Book  III. 


people  in  India  appears  to  be  more  accurate  and  minute  than  it  was 
even  in  Egypt. 

Another  fmgulanty,  in  which  the  two  nations  agreed,  is  the  ve- 
neration of  the  Cow,  which  is  univerfal  all  over  India.  Of  this 
Mr  Holwell  has  treated  very  fully,  in  his  book  upon  India* ;  and 
has  given  fome  very  good  reafons,  why  the  Indians  fhould  have  fuch 
a  refped  for  that  animal.  How  much  the  Cow  was  reverenced  in 
Egypt,  is  very  well  known ;  but  in  no  other  country,  antient  or 
modern,  except  Egypt  and  India,  there  neither  is,  nor  ever  was, 
any  extraordinary  refpedt  paid  to  that  animal.  So  here  is  another 
fmgularity  in  which  the  two  nations  agree,  but  differ  from  every 
other  nation  antient  or  modern. 

A  third  thing  in  which  the  two  nations  agree,  is  a  matter  of  great 

confequence  in  the  civilifed  life — the  divifion  of  time  into  years  and 

months.     In  India  the  divifion,  into  years  and  months,  is  the  fame 

as  with  us;  and  which,  as  I  have  fhownf,  came  originally  from  E- 

gypt  to  the   Romans,  and  from   them  to  us.      But  there  is  a  third 

divifion  of  time,  not  fo  neceffary  as  the  two  I  have  mentioned,  but 

wiiich   is   obfeived   in   India   at    this  day ;  I  mean  the  divifion  into 

weeks.    This,  too,  came  originally  from  Eg^'pt,  but  was  not  known, 

till  later  times,  to  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  as  Dion  Caffius  informs 

us ;  and  what  is  moft  remarkable   is,  that   the  feveral   days   of  the 

week  are  confecrated  to  the  fame  planets,  and  in  the  fame  order  as 

it  was  among  the  Egyptians,  and  is  among  us ;  for  that  it   was  fo 

among  the  Egyptians,  we  cannot  doubt,  as  Herodotus  tells  us,  that 

among  them  every  day  was  confecrated  to  forae  God.     In  India, 

therefore,  the   firft  day  of  the  week  is  dedicated  to  the  Sun — the 

fecond  to  the  Moon — the  third  ro  Mars — the  fourth  to  Mercury — 

the  fifth  to  Jupiter — the  fixth  to  Venus — and  the  fcventh  to  Saturn, 

juft 
*  Page  73. 
^  Page  147.  of  this  vol. 


Chap.  II.        ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  291 

juft  as  it  was  among  the  Romans,  and  is  among  us.  Now,  fuch 
a  divifion  of  time,  not  neceflary  for  diltinguifhing  feafons,  or  for 
any  purpofe  of  civil  life,  could  not  by  accident  have  been  adopted 
by  two  nations,  and  much  lefs  the  confecration  of  the  days  to  the 
fame  planets-  and  in  the  fame  order*. 

Another  thing,  which  I  think  ftill  more  remarkable,  is,  that  the 
Indians  divide  and  diftinguilh  the  feveral  regions  of  the  Heavens, 
through  which  the  fun  paffeth  in  the  courfe  of  a  year,  by  fixed 
ftars,  conceived  to  reprefent  certain  things  here  upon  earth.  Thefe 
reprefentations  are  v/ell  known  by  the  names  of  the  figns  of  the  zo- 
diac; and,  as  they  are  altogether  fanciful  and  i.naginary,  it  is  impof- 
fible  they  could  have  been  hit  upon  by  two  nations  that  had  no 
communication  together.  Yet,  it  is  as  certain,  that  the  figns  of  the 
zodiac  came  from  Egypt  to  Greece,  and  from  thence  to  us,  as  that 
they  are  to  be  found  at  this  day  in  certain  Pagodas  in  India. 

As  to  the  religion  of  India,  Mr  Hoi  well,  who  was  30  yeai's  in  In- 
dia, and  was  Prefident  for  fome  time  of  the  Englifl\  Court  of  Law 
at  Calcutta,  and  is  a  man  of  learning  as  well  as  law,  and  from  whom 
we  have  learned  many  curious  particulars  concerning  India,  has  given 
us  a  very  full  account  of  it;  from  which  it  appears,  that  the  Indians 
make  the  fame  diftindion,  which  the  Egyptians  made  f ,  betwixt  the 
religion  of  the  philofophers  and  the  religion  of  the  people.  The  Bra- 
mins,  like  the  Egyptian  Priefts,  are  the  minifters  of  the  popular  reli- 
gion, and,  at  the  fame  time,  are  their  philofophers;  and  it  is  from  them, 
.  no  doubt,  that  Mr  Holwell  has  taken  his  account  of  the  philofophicaL 
religion  of  India.     He  fays,  that  in  their  facred  book,  which  he  calls 

O  o  2  their 

*  See  what  Mr  Halhed  has  faid  upon  this  fubjeft,  in  his  Tranflation  of  the  Code  of 
Gentoo  Laws,  p.  41.  See  alfo  what  INIr  Hohvell,  in  bis  book  upon  India,  has  faid  upon 
the  fame  fnbject,  p.  117.  and  feq. 

t  See  p.  165.  of  this  vol. 


29- 


ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.         Book  III. 


their  Shajla^  the  Unity  of  God  is  maintained ;  at  the  fame  time  they 
believe  in  the  dodrine  of  the  Trinity,  as  well  as  the  Egyptian  Priefts 
did,  from  whom  Plato  no  doubt  learned  it:     And  the  Indians  have  a 
type  of  the  Trinity,  which  I  do  not  think  improper.    It  is  a  triangle 
infcribed  in  a  circle  *,  where  we  have  reprefented  the  three  in  one^ 
and  the  one  in  three.     They  maintain  alfo  the  Providence  of  God, 
and  his  Government  of  the  world,  by  inferior  fpirits,  particularly  by 
one  fpirit,  whom   they  call  Bi'ama,  from  whom,  he  fays,  the  Bra- 
mins  have  their  name.     In  this  book  is  alfo  maintained  the  free  will 
of  Man,  and  his  abufe  of  that  free  will  by  his  rebellion  againfl  God, 
which  produced  his  fall,  as  well  as  that  of  the  Angels,  from  a  hap- 
py ftate  to  the  ftate  he  is  in  at  prefent ;  and  this  fall  of  man   is  alfo 
a  docSlrine  of  Plato,  and  wJiich,  I  am  perfuaded,  he  likewife  learn- 
ed in  Egypt.    To  his  prior  happy  ftate,  he  cannot  be  reftored  without 
going  through  feveral  ftages  of  purgation  and  purification  :    So  that 
here  we  have,  laid  down,  both  a  pre-exiftant  ftate  of  Man,  and  a  future 
ftate   of  rewards  and  puniihments.     In  his  ftate  of  purgation  Man 
paffes  through  the  body  of  feveral  other  animals,  till  he  comes  into  the 
body  of  a  cow  f ;  and  from  thence  he  pafles  again  into  the  body  of 
a  man.      Now,  this  dodlrine  of  Metempfychofis^  or  Trail/migration^ 
was  an  Egyptian  do£lrine,  as  Herodotus  informs  us,  and  came  from 
Egypt  to  Greece,  where  it  was  adopted  by  fome  philofophers,  par- 
ticularlv  by  Plato.     And  there   is   one  thing  of  their   popular  reli- 
gion, which  they  have  alfo  taken  from  Egypt ;  and  that  is  the  Phal- 
los^  which,  as  Herodotus  tells  us,  was  worihipped  and  carried  about 
in  proceflions  in  Egypt :  And  the  fame  adoration  is  paid  to  it  at  this 
day  in  the  kingdom  of  Bengal:]:;  and  I   have   no   doubt,  but,   by 
the  wife  men  of  both  countries,,  it  has  been  confidered  as  a  type  or 

fymbol 

*  La  Croze's  ChrLftianlty  of  India,  p.  294, 

t  Hohvell,  p.  so.— 5 1.     See  alio  Dow's  Hiftory  of  India  concerning  Tranfmigration, 

P-  43- 

X  See  Dow's  Hiftory  of  India. 


Chap.  n.         ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  293 

fymbol  of  the  creative  or  productive  power  of  the  divinity.  And 
this  is  Ukewife  a  fingularity  in  the  rehgion  of  the  two  countries;  for 
there  is  no  other  nation  that  either  has,  or  ever  had,  fuch  an  objedl 
of  worfhip,  except  the  Greeks,  who  certainly  got  that,  as  well  as 
the  reft  of  their  religion,  from  the  Egyptians. 

Further,  the  whole  diet  and  manner  of  life  of  the  Indians  appears 
to  be  Egyptian;  for  they  live  upon  vegetables,  and  kill  no  beafts  in 
order  to  eat  them,  but  only  for  facrifice,  which  was  the  practice  in 
Egypt.  But,  when  they  facrifice,  they  eat  of  the  vidtim,  as  the 
Egyptians  did,  and  as  the  Bramins  do  at  this  day  in  India,  accord- 
ing to  the  information  I  have  from  Mr  Wilkins.  As  they  do  not 
eat  flefh,  except,  as  I  have  faid,  when  they  facrifice,  neither  do  they 
drink  any  wine  or  ftrong  liquor  of  any  kind  :  And,  I  think,  it  is 
probable,  that  the  fame  was  the  pradlice  of  the  Egyptians,  when 
they  imported  civility  and  arts  into  India ;  though,  in  later  times, 
they  altered  their  manner  of  life  in  this  refpect,  and  drank  both 
wine  and  beer. 

They  have  the  fame  regard  for  the  animal  life  that  the  Egyptians 
had.  Among  the  Egyptians  all  animals,  tame  or  wild,  were  facred 
in  one  diftridt  or  another:  And  where  they  were  facred.  It  was  a  ca- 
pital crime  to  kill  any  of  them  willingly;  but  to  kill  the  Jbis,  or 
hawk,  willingly  or  unwillingly,  was  capital  * :  And,  in  like  man- 
ner, I  am  perfuaded,  the  killing  of  a  cow,  the  moft  facred  of  all  the 
animals  among  them,  and  facred  in  every  part  of  Egypt,  was  capi- 
tally puniihed,  though  I  do  not  remember  that  It  is  mentioned  In 
any  author.  Among  the  Indians  the  killing  of  a  cow  Is  a  capital 
crime  ;  and  the  killing  of  any  animal  tame  or  wild,  even  a  tyger  or 
a  bear,  is  punifhable  by  a  fine  f :    And  I  have  heard  one  proof  of 

their 
*  Herod.  Lib.  2.  cap.  6j. 
f  Code  of  Gentoo  Laws,  p.  205.  and  238. 


•294  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.         Book  III. 

their  regard  for  the  animal  life,  which  I  could  not  have  believed,  if 
it  had  not  been  attefted  by  more  than  one  gentleman  who  have  been 
in  India.  They  told  me,  that,  in  the  town  of  Bombay,  the  Hin- 
doos had  fo  much  concern  about  the  maintainance  of  what  we  think 
a  vile  and  contemptible  infedt,  and  which  is  very  troublefomc  to  us,  I 
mean  the  bug,  that  they  hire  people  to  allow  themfelves  to  be  fed  up- 
on in  the  night  time  by  that  animal.  To  feed,  in  this  way,  with  the 
blood  of  our  own  bodies,  fo  mean  an  infe<St,  is  carrying  our  regard 
for  the  animal  life  much  too  far :  But  we  in  Europe  go  to  the  other 
extreme,  and  abufe  very  much  that  dominion  which  God  has  givea 
us  over  the  animals  of  this  earth,  treating  even  the  nobleft  of  them, 
fuch  as  the  horfe,  who  is  of  more  ufe  and  ornament  to  us  than  any 
other,  very  often  in  the  worft  manner  *. 

And  not  only  in  their  religion,  government,  and  manner  of  life, 
is  there  fuch  a  conformity  with  the  Egyptians,  but  alfo  in  their  plea- 
fures ;  for,  in  their  feftivals,  they  have  dramatical  reprefentations  of 
their  religious  myfteries,  fuch  as  they  Egyptians  had  in  what  they 
called  their  S'tixriX)]  f. 


CHAF. 


*  Holwell,  p.  147. 
•f  Ibid.  p.  145. 


Chap.  III.        ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  295 


CHAP.         Ill, 


'The  conformity  in  fa  many  particulars^  betwixt  Egypt  and  India^  coidi 
not  have  been  by  accident^ — nor  could  each  of  thefe  nations  have 
been  the  original  inventors. — The  one  muft  have  copied  from  the  0- 
ther.—-The  quefion  then^  which  was  the  original ^  which  the  copy 7 
— No  third  nation^  from  which  tbofe  two  nations  could  have  taken 
their  inflitutions  and  cuflo7ns, — fuch  a   conformity  could  not  have 
been  produced  in  the  ordinary  way  of  commerce, — The  two  nations^ 
therefore^  mujl  have  mixed  aud  lived  together  for  fame  time. — The 
Indians  did  not  go  to  Egypt.— Therefore  the  Egyptians  came  to  In- 
dia.— This  proved  not  by  argmiietit  only^  but  by  fa5ls;—a  particu- 
lar account  given  by  Diodorus  of  the  expedition  to  India  by  Ofiris^ 
— alfo  of  that  of  Sefo/lris  to  the  fame  country. — Both  thefe  expedi- 
tions by  land. — But  Sefoflris  was  not  the  frfl  Egyptian  King  that 
went  to  India. — This   attefled  not  only  by  the  facred  books  of  the 
Egyptians^  but  by  a  tradition  prcfcrved  among  the  mofl  learned  of 
the  Indians. — In  that  tradition  a  memorable  Jlory  preferved^  of  Ofi- 
ris   having  faved  his   army  from  a  pefikntial  difcafe  by  carrying 
it  to  a  hill  called  Mjj^o?. — Hence  the  Greek  fable. — Summary  of 
the   evidence   of  Oftris  having  gone  to  India. — Objedlion  to  th^  ac- 
count ofOfiris^s  expedition,  that  Herodotus  fays  nothing  of  it. — This 
anfwered. — The  tradition  alfo  mentions  that  Hercules  was  in  India, 
and  clothes  and  arms  him   very  properly. — The  abfiirdity  of  the 
Greek  fable,  co7icerning  the  cloathing  and  armour  of  Hercules. — 
Memorials  of  Ofiris  in  India,  to  be  feen  in  the  days  of  Alexander, 
and  even  of  Diodorus  Siculus. — Strabo  did  not  believe  in  the  expe- 
dition of  Oftris. — A  reafon  given  for  that. — The  Egyptians  could 

not 


296  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.         Book  III. 

not  go  to  hidia  to  learn  civility  and  arts; — thefe  they  mnjl  have  had 
before^ — and  the  Indians  mnJl  have  learned  them  from  them. — This 
proved  by  monuments  of  black  men,  with  woolly  hair,  to  be  feen  in 
India;  and  alfo  in  China  and  Japan. — Proof  that  the  Egyptian 
Religion,  as  well  as  arts,  was  carried  to  all  the  countries  of  the 
Eajl  as  well  as  to  India. — Language  alfo  carried  from  Egypt  to  In- 
dia.— a  language  of  art,  the  work  of  fcience  and  philofophy;  in 
which  analyfis  is  very  much  pradifed. 


FROM  what  has  been  faid  In  the  preceding  chapter  it  is  evident, 
that  the  wonderful  conformity  betwixt  the  Egyptian  and  Indi- 
an PoUty,  Cuftoms,  Manners,  and  Opinions,  could  not  have  happen- 
ed by  accident ;  and,  I  think,  it  is  equally  ceitain,  that  each  of  the 
nations  could  not  have  been  the  original  inventors  of  thofe  things, 
(fome  of  them  fmgular  and  unknown  to  all  other  nations),  but  that 
the  one  of  them  muft  have  copied  them  from  the  other:  So  that  the 
only  queflion  is,  Which  is  the  copy,  and  which  the  original  ? 

Another  thing,  I  think,  is  alfo  certain,  that  there  was  no  third 
nation  upon  the  face  of  the  earth,  from  which  they  could  have  taken 
thofe  fingular  inftitutions  and  cuftoms.  And  it  likewife  appears 
to  me  to  be  equally  certain,  that  fuch  a  perfedl  fimilitude  in  all  thofe 
things  I  have  mentioned,  could  not  have  arifen  from  any  trade  or 
commerce  betwixt  the  two  nations.  For,  in  Xhcfrjl  place,,  we  know 
that  the  Egyptians  carried  on  no  trade  with  any  nation  :  And,  2dly, 
fuch  trade  or  commerce  never  could  have  produced  fo  entire  a  con- 
formity of  things,  fo  effential  to  the  conftitution  and  government  of 
every  countiy,  as  thofe  I  have  mentioned ;  but  there  muft  have 
been  a  communication  between  the  two  nations  more  intimate  than 
any  trade  could  produce; — In  fhort,  the  two  nations  muft  have  mix- 
ed and  lived  fome  time  together  in  the  fame   country.     Now,  the 

Indians 


Chap.  III.        ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  297 

Indians  certainly  did  not  come  to  Egypt ;  and,  if  fo,  the  Egyptians 
mud  have  gone  to  India,  and  made  fettlements  in  that  country.  If, 
therefore,  there  was  no  other  evidence  of  the  Egyptians  having  been 
in  India  in  very  antient  times,  this  alone,  which  arifes  from  the 
nature  of  the  thing,  would  be  fufficient  to  convince  me. 

But  the  matter  does  not  reft  upon  argument  only;  for  Diodorus 
Siculus  has  given  us  a  very  particular  account,  from  the  Egyptian 
facred  books,  no  doubt,  which  he  fays,  he  ftudied  very  dilligently, 
of  the  expedition  of  Ofiris,  one  of  the  laft  race  of  their  Di^mon  or 
God  Kings,  as  they  called  them,  into  India,  with  a  great  army;  and 
this  expedition  he  made,  he  fays,  by  land,  through  Arabia,  along 
the  coaft  of  the  Arabian  Gulph,  or  Red  Sea,  as  we  call  it  *.  For 
it  does  not  appear,  that,  fo  early  as  the  days  of  Ofms,  the  Egyptians 
had  what  could  be  called  a  fleet,  though  they  certainly  had  the  ufe 
of  navigation  in  the  earlieft  times;  for,  otherwife,  they  could  not 
have  lived  in  a  country  where  there  was  fuch  a  river,  which  once 
a  year  overflowed  the  whole  country.  But,  under  Sefoftris,  they 
had  a  fleet  of  400  fliips  ;  and,  yet,  he  likewife  made  the  expedition 
by  land  into  India,  where  he  went  farther  than,  it  appears,  Ofnis  did; 
for  he  crofled  the  Ganges,  and  overran  the  country  as  far  as  the 
Ocean f.  Now  Sefoftris,  according  to  Herodotus's  calculation,  which 
the  Priefts  gave  him  from  their  books,  was  the  33 2d  human  King, 
counting  from  Menes,  the  firft  human  King  |.  Now,  this  muft  be 
allowed  to  be  the  hiftorical  period  of  the  Egyptian  hiftory,  not  the 
mythological  or  fabulous,  as  fome  may  think  it.  And,  if  fo,  it  muft 
be  alfo  allowed,  that  the  Egyptians  were  in  India  at  fome  time  or 
another,  unlefs  we  have  a  mind  to  rcjetl  the  whole  hiftory  of  Egypt 
as  fabulous. 
Vol.  IV.  P  p  But 

*  Dlod.  lib.  cap.  ly. 

f  Ibid.  cap.  jf. 

+  Herodot.  lib.  2.  cap.  79. 


298  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.         Book  III. 

But  Sefoftris,  as  I  have  faid,  was  not  the  firft  who  went  with 
an  army  from  Egypt  to  India.  He  only  followed  the  way,  which 
Ofiris  had  led  to  that  country  :  For  Ofiris's  expedition  was  not  on- 
ly recorded  in  the  books  of  the  Priefts  of  Egypt,  but  the  memory 
of  it  was  preferved  by  tradition  in  India  ;  and  a  tradition  not  a- 
mong  the  vulgar,  fays  Diodorus,  but  among  the  moft  learned  of  the 
Indians.  According  to  this  tradition,  Dionyfius,  that  is  Ofiris,  in  the 
mofl  antient  times,  came  from  the  Weft  with  a  great  ai'my  into  In- 
dia, introduced  civility  and  arts,  and  particularly  agriculture,  and 
taught  them  alfo  religion.  Before  he  came,  the  Indians  lived  in 
villages ;  but  Dionyfius  built  for  them  great  and  magnificent  towns. 
He  reigned  in  India  52  years  ;  after  which  the  Indian  traditions 
made  him  die  in  India*. 

In  the  account  Diodorus  gives  of  this  tradition,  he  relates  a  me- 
morable ftory  preferved  by  it ;  and  which,  I  think,  very  much  con- 
firms the  truth  of  the  tradition.  The  army  of  Dionyfius  was  afflidl- 
ed  by  a  peftilential  difeafe,  the  effed:  of  the  extraordinary  heat  of 
the  feafon.  The  remedy  which  the  wifdom  of  the  leader  of  this 
army,  fays  Diodorus,  devifed  for  this  difeafe,  was  to  carry  it  up  to 
a  hill  called  M/ja;?,  fignifying  in  Greek,  and,  as  it  appears,  likewife, 
in  the  Indian  language,  a  Thigh ;  where,  by  the  cool  air,  and  the 
ufe  of  pure  w^ater  immediately  from  the  fprings,  the  army  was  re- 
covered. From  hence,  he  fays,  the  Greeks  formed  the  fable  of 
Dionyfius,  being  inclofed  and  nouriihed  in  the  thigh  of  Jupiter ; 
atld  thus  a  true  fad  may  be  faid  to  be  attefted  by  a  fable.  Here, 
therefore,  we  have  the  truth  of  this  expedition  of  Ofiris  from  Egypt 
to  a  country  fo  diftant  as  India,  and  in  the  moft  antient  times,  at- 
tefted not  only  by  a  written  record  in  the  one  country,  but  by  a 
eonftant  tradition  preferved  among  the  moft  learned  in  the   other 

country. 

*  Diod.  lib.  2.  cap.  38. 


Chap.  III.        ANTIENTMETAPHYSICS.  299 

country.     Now,  if  this   be   not   proof  of  a  fad,  I  defire  to  know 
how  any  fa£l  of  antient  hiftory  can  be  proved. 

The  learned  reader  may  objedt,  that  Herodotus,  who  certainly 
was  very  well  informed  of  the  hiftory  of  Egypt,  and  has  given  us, 
as  far  as  he  has  gone,  a  moft  accurate  and  diftindt  account  of  it,  has 
not  faid  a  word  of  the  expedition  of  Ofiris  into  India,  the  moft  me- 
morable event  of  that  hiftory.  But  it  is  to  be  obferved,  that  he 
has  faid  nothing  of  the  actings  or  fufferings  of  any  of  the  Daemon 
Kings,  though,  I  am  perfuaded,  he  knew  more  of  it  than  Diodorus, 
or  any  author  who  has  written  of  Egypt.  But  what  he  knew,  he 
had  learned  from  the  Priefts  under  the  feal  of  fecrecy,  in  the  fame 
manner  as  the  Eleufinian  myfteries,  in  Greece,  were  communicated 
to  the  initiated.  Among  other  things,  it  is  plain  that  he  knew 
where  fome  of  them  were  buried  ;  but  this  he  thought  it  was  unlaw- 
ful to  reveal  *.  From  thence,  I  think,  it  appears,  that  the  Priefts 
wanted  that  the  vulgar  fhould  believe  their  Dxmon  Kings  to  be 
truly  what  they  called  them,  Gods^  that  is,  immortal.  All,  therefore, 
we  learn  from  Herodotus  of  the  Egyptian  Gods  is,  that  there  were 
three  races  of  them,  of  the  laft  of  which,  he  fays,  Ofiris  was  one ; 
and,  he  tells  us,  fuither,  that  the  Greeks  borrowed  the  names  and 
adventures  of  the  Egyptian  Gods,  and  afcribed  them  to  men  of  their 
own  countiy. 

Hercules,  too,  the  Indian  traditions  faid,  had  been  in  India;  and 
they  drefled  him  very  properly  in  a  lion's  fkin,  (fkins  being  the  firft 
cloathing  among  men),  and  armed  him  with  a  club,  which  was  the 
firft  weapon  ufed  by  men,  and  is  at  this  day  ufed  by  the  Ourang- 
Outang.  This  was  a  very  proper  drefs  and  armour  for  a  man  who 
lived  in  times  fo  very  antient ;  (for  he  was  one  of  the  fecond  race 
of  the  Egyptian  Gods  confifting  of  twelve)  ;  but  it  was  moft  abfurd 

P  P  2  in 

*  Tat/Ta  Ko;  iv-r ckk  aasdif  is  the  cxprefEon  he  ufes. 


300  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.         Book  III. 

in  the  Greeks,  to  cloath  and  arm,  in  that  way,  the  fon  of  Amphytrion, 
wlio  lived  only  a  generation  before  the  Trojan  war.  This  Egyp- 
tian Hercules,  Diodorus  fays,  begot  many  children,  among  whom 
he  divided  India ;  and  their  race  continued  to  reign  there  for  many 
generations,  fome  of  them  down  to  the  time  of  Alexander.  He  al- 
fo  built  feveral  cities,  of  which  he  names  one,  that  he  calls  Palibo- 
thra,  a  great,  he  fays,  and  populous  city  *. 

If  there  could  be  any  doubt  of  the  Egyptians  having  been  In  In- 
dia, notwithftanding  the  records  in  one  country,  and  the  traditions 
ia  the  other,  and  the  demonftration  which  I  think  arifes  from  the 
nature  of  the  thing,  it  muft  be  entirely  removed  by  monuments 
which  were  to  be  feen  in  India,  as  late  as  the  days  of  Diodorus  Si- 
culus  ;  who  tells  us,  that,  among  other  towns  that  Ofiris  built  in 
India,  there  was  one  which  he  called  Nyfla,  the  name  of  the  town 
in  Arabia  where  he  was  nurfed.  In  the  ground,  about  this  Indian 
town,  he  planted  the  Ivy,  a  plant  that  was  confecrated  to  him  ;  and 
our  author  fays,  that  in  no  other  part  of  India  it  is  found.  He  adds, 
that  he  left  fo  many  monuments  in  India,  that  the  Indians  of  later 
times  claimed  him  as  their  countryman  f . 

I  will  add  to  the  teftimony  of  Diodorus,  that  of  another  hiftorian 
who  had  an  opportunity  of  being  very  much  better  informed  con- 
cerning the  expeditions  of  Ofiris  and  Hercules  into  India,  than  Dio- 
dorus or  any  other  author  who  has  written  upon  the  fubjecl.  The 
author  I  mean  is  Arrian,  very  valuable  both  for  matter  and  ftile, 
and  well  deferving  the  eulogium  which  Photius  has  beftowed  on 
him  X'  He  has  written  a  book  upon  India,  and  is  an  author  of  the 
greateft  authority,  with  refpedl  to  Indian  affairs,  of  any  antient  au- 
thor 

*  Diod.  lib.  2.  cap.  38. 

I  Ibid.  lib.  I.  cap.  19. 

1  See  the  end  of  his  Echgae  from  Arrian's  Hiftory  of  Alexander. 


Chap.III.        ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  301 

thor  that  is  come  down  to  us  :  For  he  has  given  us  an  account  of 
that  country  from  Megaftlienes,  who  was  in  India  wlien  Alexander 
was  there,  and  who  travelled  through  more  of  the  country  than  any 
other  of  thofe  who  accompanied  Alexander  in  that  expedition  *" ;  and 
alfo  from  Nearchus,  who  commanded  Alexander's  fleet  that  failed 
from  the  mouth  of  the  Indus  to  Babylon,  and  who,  as  Arrian  tells  us, 
wrote  a  Hiftory  of  Alexander  f.  Megafthenes  had  an  opportunity 
of  being  better  informed  of  the  hiftory  and  antiquities  of  India,  than 
any  other  that  was  with  Alexander;  for  he  was  with  Sandracottus,  a 
great  Indian  King,  and  with  Porus,  who  was  ftill  a  greater  King  t. 
What,  therefore,  he  relates  of  the  hiftory  of  India  is,  I  think,  more 
credible  than  any  thing  we  have  from  any  other  author ;  and 
Sa-abo,  though  he  difbeUeves  many  of  the  wonderful  ftories,  he  tells, 
of  the  ftrange  animals  in  India,  fays  nothing  againft  his  hiftory  of 
the  men  of  that  country.  Arrian  muft  alfo  have  got  a  great  deal  of 
information  concerning  India  from  Vv-hat  Ptolemy,  the  fon  of  Lagus, 
w^ho  was  afterwards  King  of  Egypt,  and  Ariftobulus,  who,  as  well 
as  Ptolmey,  accompanied  Alexander  in  his  Indian  expedition,  wTOte 
upon  the  fubjed  of  that  expedition  :  And,  accordingly,  he  has 
mentioned  feveral  curious  particulars,  concerning  Indian  towns  which 
Alexander  took,  and  Kings  that  he  conquered;  which  he  muft  have 
learned  from  thofe  two  authors  ||.  This  author,  fo  well  informed, 
fpeaks  of  the  expeditions  of  the  Egyptians  under  Ofiris  and  Hercules, 
as  a  fadl  of  w'hich  there  could  be  no  doubt ;  and  mentions  many 
monuments  of  Ofiris,  that  were  to  be  found  in  India  when  Alexan- 
der was  there  :  And,  particularly,  he  tells  the  fame  ftory,  which 
Diodorus  tells,  of  his  building  the  town  of  Nyfta ;  to  which  he  adds 
his  planting  the  Ivy  there,  a  plant  to  be  found  in  no  other  part 

of 

*  Arrian's  Indica,  p.  201.  203.  and  318.  Edit.  Gronovii. 

f  Arrian,  Ibid. 

t  Ibid. 

!l  Arrian's  Expedition  of  Alexander,  lib.  6.  cap.  3.  &  14.     Alfo  Indica,  cap.  7.  &c. 


';o2 


ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.         Book  III. 


orindia''.  He  mentions  alfo  his  having  taught  the  Indians  the  ufe 
of  Tyvipana  and  Cymbalo  in  their  battles,  and  of  cloaths  of  various 
colours,  fuch  as  vv'^ere  ufed  by  the  Bacchinals  in  the  rites  of  Bac- 
chus f .  And  he  mentions  a  circumftance  related  by  the  Indians 
concerning  the  expedition  of  Oiiris,  in  which  it  differed  from  Alex- 
ander's expedition,  namely,  that  Ofiris  had  no  fhips  with  him  [j:, 
but  made  the  journey,  as  Diodorus  has  related,  by  land  :  Whereas, 
Alexander  had  a  fleet  with  him,  commanded,  as  I  have  faid,  by 
Nearchus. 

It  was  certainly  from  the  two  Kings,  I  have  mentioned,  Sandra- 
cottus  and  Porus,  that  Megafthenes  learned  the  chronology  of  India, 
which  Arrian  gives  us  in  his  ninth  chapter  j  where  he  tells  us,  that 
from  Bacchus  there  were  153  Kings,  whofe  reigns  amounted  to 
6042  years,  which  makes  39^  years  to  each  King,  one  with  ano- 
ther. From  the  fame  King  he  muft  have  learned,  that  Bacchus, 
when  he  departed  from  India,  left  one  of  his  companions,  Spar- 
tembas  by  name,  the  moft  fkilled  in  his  rites,  to  govern  the  Indians, 
who  reigned  25  years,  and  was  fucceeded  by  his  fon  Boudyas  ||.  And 
there  is  at  this  day  a  tribe  of  Indians  called  Afghans,  and  once  a  very 
poweriul  tribe,  who  are  recorded  by  an  antient  hiftorian  of  good 
authority  to  have  been  an  Egyptian  colony  §  :    And,  I  think,  it  is 

very 
*  Page  340.  and  43d. 

t  Page  559- 

X  Page  411. 

K  Indica,  cap.  8. 

§  This  account  of  the  Afghans  is  given  us  by  an  antient  Indian  Hiftorian,  of  the 
name  of  Muttelu  id  Anwar,  who  is  quoted  as  an  autlior  of  good  authority  by  another 
Indian  Hiftorian  of  the  name  of  Feriihta,  who  lived  in  the  beginning  of  the  i  7th  cen- 
tury, and  of  whom  Mr  Dov/  has  given  us  a  tranflation,  (See  Dow's  Hiftory  of  Indoftan, 
vol.  I.  p.  37);  and,  I  think,  it  is  a  Hiftory  %ery  wdl  worth  tranfiating. — There  is  a 
Hiftory  of  the  fame  people,  tranflated  from  the  Indian  language   and  prefentcd  to  the 

Literarv 


Chap.  III.        A  N  T I E  N  T  M  E  T  A  P  H  Y  S  I C  S.  303 

very  likely,  that  Ofiris  or  Sefoftris  would  leave  a  colony  of  their 
troops  in  India,  (as  Sefoftris  certainly  did  at  Colchis,)  in  order  to  eafe 
themifelves  of  their  fuperfluous  numbers. 

Thus  I  think  I  have  proved,  as  much  as  any  fad  of  antient  hil- 
tory  can  be  proved,  that  the  Egyptians  were  in  India  in  very  an- 
tient times.  Nor  fhould  I  have  been  at  fo  great  pains  to  prove, 
what,  from  the  nature  of  the  thing,  1  think,  is  evident,  if  fo  great 
an  author  as  Strabo,  had  not  treated,  as  a  fable,  the  expeditions  of 
Bacchus  and  Hercules  into  India.  But  he  does  not  appear,  to  me, 
to  have  diftinguifhed  betwixt  the  Egyptian  Bacchus  and  Hercules, 
and  the  Grecian  :  And,  therefore,  it  is  no  wonder,  that  he  treats, 
as  fabulous,  thefe  expeditions  of  Bacchus  and  Hercules  *.  But, 
he  gives  neither  ?.rguments  nor  authorities  in  fupport  of  his 
opinion;  and  he  acknowledges,  that  Megafthenes,  who,  as  I  have 
faid,  accompanied  Alexander  to  India,  was  of  another  opinion;  and 
he  adds,  what  I  think  is  not  mentioned  by  Arrian,  that  Megafthenes 
related,  that  Bacchus  was  worfhipped,  even  by  the  philofophers  of 
India,  in  the  mountains,  and  Hercules  in  the  Plains  f.  Neither  do  I 
think  that  his  opinion  of  the  Egyptians  never  having  been  in  India, 
is  coniiftant  with  what  he  relates  of  the  burial  place  of  the  Egyptian 

Kings, 

Literary  Society  of  India  by  Henry  Vaufittart.  This  tranflation  Sir  William  Jones  has 
given  us  in  his  Ajiatk  Rejearchc:,  vol.  2.  p.  69.  According  to  the  account  of  this 
author,  the  Afghans  are  a  colony  of  Jews,  which  fettled  in  India.  Who  the  author  was, 
and  ^vhen  he  lived,  who  tells  this  ftory,  we  are  not  informed  :  But  whoever  was  the 
author  of  it,  I  think  very  little  credit  is  to  be  given  to  it.  It  is  confeffed  by  the  Gentle- 
man, who  prefented  it  to  the  Society,  (p.  67.  ibid.)  that  the  beginning  of  it  is  entirely 
fabulous ;  and  the  reft  of  it,  in  my  judgment,  is  of  very  little  value.— The  ground 
work  of  what  remains  of  it,  is  the  Hiftory  of  the  Old  Teftament,  contained  In  the  two 

books  of  Samuel ;  but  with  many  additional  circumftances,  which,  I  am  pei-fuaded,  are 

fabulous. 

*  Strabo,  p.  ^05. 
f  Ibid.  lib.  15. 


304  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.         Book  III. 

Kings,  near  to  Thebes,  where  40  of  them  were  interred,  with  obe- 
lifks  near  tlieir  fepulchres,  and  infcriptions  on  thefe  obelifks,  which 
mentioned  their  power,  their  wealth,  their  armies  amounting  to 
a  million  of  men,  and  their  empire  extending  over  Scythia,  Badtri- 
ana,  and  India*.  This  Egyptian  monument,  he  appears  to  have 
himfelf  feen.  Now,  though  we  fliould  give  no  faith  to  the  facred  books 
of  the  Egyptians,  nor  to  the  traditions  preferved  among  the  learned 
in  India,  agreeing  with  thofe  books,  if  we  will  not  be  convinced  by  the 
infcriptions  upon  thofe  monuments,  more  antient,  it  is  likely,  than 
even  the  books  of  the  Priefls,  I  think  we  muft  give  no  faith  to  old 
monuments  of  any  kind. 

Having  thus  proved  by  the  teflimonies  of  antient  authors,  which 
I  think  unqueftionable,  that  the  Egyptians  were  in  India  In  very 
antient  times,  it  does  not  appear  to  me  neceflary  to  add  any  autho- 
rities fiom  modern  authors.  I  will,  however,  quote  one  modern 
author,  M.  la  Croze,  who  has  written,  in  French,  a  very  good  book 
upon  India,  which  he  entitles  the  Hijiory  of  the  Chnjliajtifm  of  the 
Indies.  In  the  fecond  volume  of  this  workf,  he  aflerts  the  fadt,  as 
a  thing  that  could  not  be  doubted  :  And  he  fays,  that  the  Jefuit 
Father  Catrou,  in  his  Hiflcry  of  the  Mogul  Empire,  and  M.  Huet, 
Bifhop  of  Avranches,  in  his  Hi/lory  of  the  Cojnmerce  and  Navigation 
of  the  Antients,  are  of  the  fame  opinion.  And,  the  firft  he  mentions. 
Father  Catrou,  he  fiys,  maintains  upon  the  authority  of  the  Bramins, 
that  the  Indians  were  originally  a  colony  from  Egypt.  But  this, 
I  think,  is  carrying  the  matter  too  far,  much  farther  than  is  warrant- 
ed by  any  antient  Hiflorian.  It  is  enough  to  fuppofe,  what,  as  I  have 
faid,  is  proved  by  the  teftimony  of  the  Indian  Hiflorian  Miittelu  ul 
Anwar,  quoted  by  Feriflita,  that  the  Egyptians,  when  they  overran 
the  country,  firft  under  Ofiris,  and  then  under  Sefoftris,  left  behind 

them 

*  Ibid,  page  1 171. 
"  Page  Z2I. 


Chap.  III.        ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  30J 

them  a  colony,  fuch  as  Sefoftris  certainly  did  at  Colchis  upon  the 
Euxine  Sea,  when  he  overran  Afia.  But  we  are  not  for  that  to  be- 
lieve that  (o  great  a  country  as  India  was  wholly  peopled  from 
Egypt.  The  two  authors  whom  La  Croze  mentions,  Chatrou  the  Jc- 
fuit,  and  Bifhop  Huet,  think  the  matter,  he  fays,  fo  clear,  that  the\- 
have  not  taken  the  trouble  to  give  any  proof  of  it.  But  this  defedt  La 
Croze  has  fupplied  *,  and  has  flhown  very  clearly,  from  the  confor- 
mity betwixt  the  religion  and  manners  of  the  two  countries,  that  the 
Egyptians  muil;  have  been  in  India.  Upon  this,  I  have  infilled  very 
much  in  the  preceding  chapter :  And,  indeed,  as  the  Indians  never 
were  in  Egypt,  I  think  it  is  a  demonftration,  from  the  nature  of  the 
thing,  that  the  Egyptians  muft  have  been  in  India. 

And  thus,  I  think,  I  have  proved,  both  from  the  nature  of  the 
thing,  and  from  the  authority  of  authors,  antlent  and  modern,  that 
the  Egyptians,  in  antient  times,  were  in  India.  Now,  this  of  itfelf 
is  a  very  important  fact  in  the  hiftory  of  man,  that,  in  fo  very  ear- 
ly an  age,  a  great  army  fhould  have  come  all  the  way  by  land  from 
Egypt  to  a  country  fo  remote  as  India. 

This  point  being  fettled,  the  only  queftion  that  remains  to  be  dcr- 
termined,  upon  this  fubjedt  of  the  intercourfe  betwixt  Egypt  and 
India,  is,  Whether  the  Egyptians,  when  they  went  to  India,  learn- 
ed civility  and  arts  there,  or  taught  them  to  the  Indians  ?  This,  in 
ray  opinion,  is  no  difficult  queftion,  though  I  know,  there  are  who 
maintain,  that  the  Egyptians  got  their  arts  and  fciences  from  the  In^ 
dians.  For,  in  the  Jir/i  place,  if  we  believe  the  traflition  among  the 
learned  in  India,  there  can  be  no  doubt,  that  the  Egyptians  imported 
civility  and  arts  into  that  country.  2^0, 1  think  it  is  impoflible,  by  the 
nature  of  things,  that  a  country,  without  civility  and  arts,  fhould  have 
undertaken,  and  condudted  fo  well,  fo  great  an  expedition  to  fo  diftant 

Vol.  IV.  Q^q  a- 

*  Vol.  2.  p.  222. 


v) 


06  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.         Book  III. 


a  country;  nor  is  there  any  example  of  the  Hke  in  the  hiftory  of  man. 
All  the  nations,  which  have  got  their  civility  and  arts  from  other  na- 
tions, have  not  come  to  thefe  nations,  but  thefe  nations  have  come  to 
them,  and  have  conquered  them,  and  in  that  way  civilifed  them,  and 
introduced  arts  among  them;  and,  in  this  way,  Ofiris,  with  an  armed 
force,  civilifed  the  Indians,  pio,  The  Indians,  fo  far  from  having 
it  in  their  power  to  give  a  fyftem  of  polity  to  the  Egyptians,  fuch 
as  I  have  fhown  they  enjoyed,  and  the  arts  and  fciences  they  pof- 
fefTed,  were  themfelves  in  a  moft  barbarous  ftate  w^hen  Ofiris  came 
among  them.  This  is  attefted  by  the  author  before  mentioned,  Ar- 
rian,  who,  as  I  have  obferved,  was  better  informed  concerning  In- 
dian affairs,  than  any  other  Greek  writer,  having  taken  his  account 
of  the  Indians  from  MegaRhenes,  who  got  his  information  from  the 
Indians  themfelves,  and  particularly  from  the  Princes  of  the  country. 
He  fays,  that  the  Indians,  before  Ofiris  introduced  civility  and  arts 
among  them,  were  quite  barbarous,  feeding  upon  the  barks  of  trees*. 
Even  as  late  as  the  days  of  Darius  the  Perfian  King,  Herodotus 
tells  us,  that  there  was  a  people  in  India,  whom  he  calls  KxXaritx.i, 
who  inRead  of  burying  or  burning  their  dead  parents,  ate  them  f. 
And  he  mentions  another  people  of  India,  called  Tla^zicti^  who  were 
fo  wild,  that  they  lived  a  nomade  life,  and  fed  upon  raw  flefh. 
Thefe  people,  he  fays,  were  even  more  barbarous  men  eaters  than 
the  KocXa-iai;  for,  when  any  of  their  number  fell  fick,  his  neareft 
relations  killed  him,  and  ate  him,  alledging  that  his  dying  a  linger- 
ing death,  by  difeafe,  would  make  his  flefh  worfe  food :  And  though 
he  maintained,  that  he  was  not  dying,  but  would  recover,  they 
would  not  take  his  word  for  it,  but  put  him  to  death,  and  feaRed  on 
him  %.  And  thefe  Indians,  he  fays,  copulated  promifcuoufly  and 
openly  as  the  brutes  do  ||.     And  he  fpeaks  of  this  people  as  exifting 

in 

*  Indica,  cap.  5.  p.  325. 

I  Lib.  3.  cap.  38. 

%  Ibid.  cap.  99.  II  Foid.  cap.  100. 


Chap.  III.        ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  307 

in  his  time  :  Nor  are  we  to  wonder  that  the  arts,  which  Oiiris 
imported  into  India,  were  not  propagated  all  over  that  great  coun- 
try, inhabited  by  fo  many  different  people,  but  were  confined  to 
thofe  nations,  where  Ofiris,  or  Hercules,  or  their  fucceffors,  reigned, 
and  to  fome  other  in  their  neighbourhood,  which,  by  communica- 
tion, may  have  got  thofe  arts  from  them. 

If  there  could  be  any  doubt,  that  the  Egyptians  were  the  teachers 
of  the  Indians,  and  not  their  fcholars,  it  is  entirely  removed  by  mo- 
numents ftill  to  be  feen  in  India ;  I  mean  ftatues  or  bufts  of  black 
men  with  woolly  hair,  and  which  are  reverenced  b)'  the  natives  as 
the  images  of  Gods.  Now,  there  is  no  fuch  thing  in  India,  as  men 
with  woolly  hair;  nor  are  the  Indians  fo  black  as  the  Egyptians 
were,  but  only  of  a  dark  fwarthy  colour.  And  not  only  in  India  but 
in  Chinaj  where  the  people  are  all  fair,  and  likewife  in  Japan,  are  fuch 
images  to  be  feen.  Bryant,  in  his  Antient  Mythology  *,  gives  us, 
in  the  words  of  a  man  who  writes  a  hiftory  of  the  Dutch  embaflies 
to  Japan,  a  defcription  of  a  great  temple  in  the  city  of  Miacro  in 
that  country,  where  there  is  a  great  idol  v/ith  black  vv^oolly  hair. 
He  mentions  another  tj  in  another  temple,  whofe  hair  was  likewife 
black  and  woolly;  and  fpeaks  alfo  J  of  other  Moorifli  figures  or  idols 
witli  woolly  hair.  Among  the  Siamefe,  he  fays,  their  deity,  Boudhuy 
is  reprefented  in  the  fame  way:  And,  he  adds,  that  black,  in  Japan, 
is  a  colour  of  good  omen,  which,  he  fays,  is  extraordinary;  for  the 
Japanefe  are  by  no  means  black,  nor  has  their  hair  any  tendency 
to  wool  j|.  And,  in  the  country  of  Siam,  there  is  one  remarkable 
bull  of  that  kind,  to  which  rehgious  worlhip  is  paid,  as  Kempfer 
in  his  travels  has  related.  Now,  the  images  of  thofe  black  woolly 
haired  men,  can  be  worfhipped  as  Gods,  for  no  other  reafon,  except 
that  the  perfons,  whom  they  reprefent,  taught  the  people  of  the  fe- 

Q^q  2  veral 

*  Vol.  3.  p,  577.  and  578.  f  Page  58c. 

X  Page  581.  II  Ibidem. 


3o8  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.         Book  III. 

veral  countries  where  they  are  to  be  found,  arts  and  fciences  ;  the 
fame  reafon,  for-  which,  Diodorus  Siculus  fays,  the  Egyptians  dei- 
fied their  firfl  Kings. 

Images  of  black  men  with  woolly  hair,  being  worfhipped  as  Gods 
in  India,  is  not,  to  my  great  furprife,  taken  notice  of  by  any  of  the 
writers,  thac  I  have  mentioned,  upon  the  fubjed  of  Egypt  and  In- 
dia, though,  I  think,  it  proves  mofl  clearly,  that  it  was  the  Egyp- 
tians, who  imported  a  religion,  arts,  and  fciences,  into  India.  Na- 
tions, and  the  races  of  men,  are  diftinguiflied  by  their  bodies,  as 
well  as  by  their  minds,  and  particularly  by  the  colour  of  their  bo- 
dies, and  alfo  by  the  colour,  form,  and  figure,  of  their  hair:  And  in 
that  way,  at  this  day,  are  the  negroes  of  Africa  diftinguiflied,  not 
only  from  the  nations  of  Europe,  but  from  the  nations  of  Afia, 
and  even  from  the  Indians,  who,  as  I  have  faid,  indeed  are  black, 
not  fo  black,  however,  as  the  negroes  of  Africa,  but  are  not  wool- 
ly haired.  And  this  diftindion,  betwixt  the  Egyptians  and  other 
nations,  was  as  well  known  in  the  days  of  Herodotus,  as  it  is  now : 
For,  he  tells  us,  that  the  Colchians,  a  colony  left  by  Sefoftris  upon 
the  Euxine  Sea,  were  known  to  be  of  Egyptian  origin,  by  their 
having  woolly  hair  *.  And  the  fame  author  tells  us,  that  of  the 
iEthiopians,  (under  which  name  the  antients  comprehended  all  black 
men),  thofe,  who  inhabited  Lybia,  were  of  all  men  the  moft  woolly 
haired.  Now  thefe  Lybian  or  African  woolly  haired  men  certainly 
comprehended  the  Egyptians,  and  thofe  whom  we  now  call  negroes: 
Whereas  the  eaftern  ^tliiopians,  Herodotus  fays,  were  ftraight  haired 
men.  Of  the  hair  of  the  Indians  he  fays  nothing.  But  Strabo  has 
informed  us  of  many  particulars  concerning  the  Indians,  and  among 
others,  he  has  told  us,  in  exprefs  words,  that  they  were  Jut^.^^s?,  or 
Jlraight  haired  f . 

And 
*  See  Herodot.  lib.  7.  cr.p.  70. ;  alfo  the  Note  {X)  at  the  bottom  of  p.   144.  of  vol. 
3.  of  this  work. 
■     f  Strabo,  lib.  15-  p-  6^6.  marked  on  the  margin. 


Chap.  III.        ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  309 

And  thus,  I  think,  it  is  proved,  that  the  Egyptians  were  diflin- 
guifhed,  and  remarkably  diftinguifhed,  by  their  woolly  hair,  not 
only  from  other  nations,  but  particularly  from  the  Indians :  And, 
therefore,  we  know,  that  thofe  idols  of  black  woolly  haired  men,  to 
be  feen  in  'India  and  the  neighbouring  countries,  are  images  of 
Egyptian  men,  by  the  fame  token  that  Herodotus  knew  the  Colchi- 
ans  to  be  originally  from  Egypt.  And,  indeed,  this  makes  fo  great 
a  difference  in  men,  that,  if  there  had  been  no  other  proof  of  the 
Egyptians  having  come  to  India,  and  having  given  the  people  there 
religion,  arts,  and  civility,  than  thofe  idols  of  black  men  with  wool- 
ly hair,  fo  different  in  their  appearance  from  the  natives  of  India 
and  all  the  other  people  in  that  part  of  the  world,  I  (hould  have 
thought  it  fufhcient. 

With  refpedt  to   thofe   black  woolly  haired   idols   in   India,  it   is 

proper  to  obferve  another  thing  that  has  not  been  taken  notice  of  by 

any  of  the   writers   upon  the  antiquities  of  Egypt  and  India :     It  is 

what  Arrian  tells  us  in  the  paffage  above  quoted  *,  that  the  name  of 

a  fucceffor  of  Ofiris   in    India,  was   (Bovhot,i.     Now,   this   Boudyas 

is   well   known    in   India,  under   the   name    of  Boudha  f ;    and  is 

adored  as   a   divinity,  under  the  figure  of  a   black   woolly  haired 

man.     It   appears,  that  his   religion   was   propagated,   not   only  to 

India,  but  to   many  of  thofe   eaftern  countries,  fuch  as  Siam  and 

China ;    and   even   to    the  Iflands   of  Ceylon  and  Japan.      In    the 

Ifland   of  Ceylon   he  is  known  by  the   name   of  Budu  \  ;    for,  as 

his  religion  was    propagated    to   fo   many  different   countries,    his 

name   w^as   differently  pronounced   according  to   the  different  dia- 

ledls  of  thofe  countries,  but  always  with  a  fimilitude,  greater  or  lefs, 

to  the  original  name  of  Boudyas.     Mr  Bailly,  in  his  letter  upon  the 

origin 
•  Page  302. 

\  Sec  M.  de  Guigne's  Treatife  upon  the  Religion  of  India,  in  the  40th  vol.  of  the 

Memoires  of  the  French  Academy,  p.  197. 

X  La  Croze,  torn.  2.  p.  349. 


J 


10  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.         Book  III. 


origin  of  the  fciences,  calls  him  Biita.  In  what  countiy  he  takes 
that  name,  he  does  not  tell  us ;  but,  he  fays,  that  he  is  the  fame 
with  the  Fo-boo  of  China,  and  with  the  God  of  the  Japanefe,  of  the 
Ifland  of  Ceylon,  and  of  Siam*.  The  Japanefe  pronounce  his  name 
Biidiia^  as  M.  de  Guignes  tells  us  f .  The  Chinefe  tranflate  his  name, 
and  call  him,  as  I  have  faid,  Fo-hoo,  which,  in  their  language,  fignifies 
what  is  very  pure.  Of  thefe  two  words  they  ufe  but  the  firft,  and  call 
him  Fo ;  and  by  that  name  his  religion  is  well  known  all  over  the 
eaft.  It  is,  as  M.  de  Guignes  informs  us  in  the  treatife  above  quot- 
ed if,  not  only  the  moil:  antient  religion  of  India,  but  it  is  the  reli- 
gion of  China,  Japan,  Thibet,  and  a  great  part  of  Tartary,  and  al- 
fo  of  fome  of  the  eaftern  iflands,  fuch  as  Ceylon.  He  was  known 
to  be  the  God  of  India,  in  the  days  of  Clemens  of  Alexandria,  who 
mentions  him  under  the  name  of  Boota:  And  St  Jerom  alfo  fpeaks 
of  him,  and  calls  him  Budda\. 

Thus,  I  think,  it  is  proved,  that  the  Egyptian  religion,  and  with 
it  no  doubt  civility  and  arts,  were  carned*tiot  only  to  India;  but 
from  thence  were  propagated  all  over  the  eaft. 

That  the  Egyptian  religion  went  to  Japan,  Sir  William  Jones  has 
given  us  a  moft  convincing  proof,  which  Kem.pfer  furnilhes  him, 
who,  as  he  tells  us,  refided  long  in  Japan,  and  had  a  familiar  in- 
tercourfe  with  the  principal  inhabitants  of  the  country  §.  He  fays, 
that  the  Eg}^tian  idolatry  has  prevailed  in  Japan  from  the  earlieft 
ages  :  And,  among  the  idols  worfhipped  there,  is  a  goddefs  with 
many  arms,  reprefenting  the  powers  of  nature,  in  Egypt  called  Ifis^ 
and  in  India  Ifani  or  Ifi.     And  this  image,  f\ys  our  author,  as  it  is 

exhibited 

*  Vol.  I.  p.  123.  and  124. 

I  Vol.  40.  of  the  Memoirs  of  the  French  Academy,  p.  197. 
X  Page  197- 

II  La  Croze,  torn.  2.  p.  319. — 320. 

$  See  Sir  AVilliam  Jones's  Afi.itic  Refearches,  vol.  2.  p.  379. 


Chap.  III.       ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  311 

exhibited  by  the  German  traveller,  (that  is  Kempfer),  all  the  Ger- 
mans, to  whom  I  fliowed  it,  immediately  recognifed  with  a  mixture 
of  pleafure  and  enthufiafm  *. 

There  is  a  memorial  of  another  Egyptian  Dsemon  preferved  in  thofe 
caftern  countries,  not  by  any  ftatue  or  bufl,  but  in  a  way  more  proper 
for  fuch  a  wicked  Daemon.  It  is  by  the  name  of  Typhon,  which  they 
give  to  a  dreadful  hurricane,  that  very  often  rages  in  the  fca  betwixt 
China  and  Japan.  This  information  I  had  from  more  than  one  tra- 
veller in  China.  And  to  this  may  be  added,  what  Sir  William  Jones 
tells  usf ,  of  the  abhorrence  which  the  Indians  have  of  the  colour 
red,  which  was  the  colour  of  Typhon,  as  Diodorus  informs  US4: , 
and  was  therefore  abhorred  by  the  Egyptians. 

That  the  Indians  make  the  fame  diflindtion  that  the  Egyptians  do 
betwixt  the  religion  of  the  philofopher  and  that  of  the  people,  I 
have  obferved  in  the  preceding  chapter  ||,  where  1  have  faid,  that, 
in  their  facred  books,  the  unity  of  God  is  maintained,  and  that  they 
believe  alfo  in  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  and  in  other  dodtrines  of 
theology,  which  were  maintained  by  the  Priefts  in  Egypt.  And 
as  they  got  their  philofophical  religion  from  Egypt,  fo  alfo  they  got 
their  popular  :  For  Sir  William  Jones  tells  us§,  that  the  Trident  of 
Neptune,  the  Eagle  of  Jupiter,  the  Satyrs  of  Bacchus,  the  Bow  of 
Cupid,  and  the  Chariot  of  the  Sun,  are  all  to  be  feen  in  India  at  this 
day.  Thefe,  Sir  William  fays,  are  all  to  be  found  in  Greece  and 
Italy ;  but  it  is  certain,  that  the  Greeks,  as  well  as  the  Romans 
derived  their  religion  from  Egypt :  And  as  the  Indians  never  had  any 

communication, 

*  Ibid.  p.  380. 

f  Ibid.  p.  378. 

X  Page  291. 

II  Ibid.  p.  292. 

§  Afiat.  Refearch.  vol.  i.  p.  424. 


312  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.         Book  III. 

communication,  in  antient  times,  with  the  Greeks  and  Italians,  nor 
ever  at  any  time  borrowed  religion,  cuftoms,  and  manners,  from 
them,  we  muft  fuppofe,  that  they  got  thefe,  as  well  as  other  things,, 
from  Egypt. 

As  to  arts  and  fciences.  Sir  William,  in  the  paflage  above  quoted, 
fays,  that  the  Bramins  and  a  learned  fe£t  in  India,  that  he  calls  Serma- 
nes^  difpute  in  the  Forms  of  Logic;  and  the  Jefuit,  father  Pons,  tells  us, 
that  they  ftudy  logic  very  much,  and  examine  moft  accurately  the  dif- 
ferent Figures  and  Moods  of  the  Syllogifm  :   And  Sir  William  adds, 

*  That  they  difcourfe  on  the  vanity  of  human  enjoyments,  and  the 
'  immortality  of  the  foul,  her  emanation  from  the  eternal  mind,  her 
'  debafement,  wanderings,  and  final  union  with  her  fource.'  Then  he 
mentions,  '  the  fix  philofophlcal  fchools,  whofe  principles  are  ex- 
'  plained  in  the  Darfaua  Sajlra,  which,'  he  fays,  *  comprife  all  the 

*  metaphyfics  of  the  old  academy,  the  Stoa,  the  Lycaeum  :     Nor  is 

*  it  poffible  to  read  the  Vedanta,  or  the  many  fine  compofitions  in 
'  illuftration  of  it,  without  believing,  that  Pythagoras  and  Plato  de- 
'  rived  their  fublime  theories  from  the  fame  fountain  with  the  fages 
'  of  India  '*.'  And,  as  to  arts,  he  fays,  that  they  have  numerous 
works  upon  Grammar,  Logic,  Rhetoric,  Mufic,  all  which,  he  adds, 
are  excellent  and  acceffible  f.  Now,  1  fay,  that  it  is  impoffible,  that 
a  nation,  in  the  ftate  in  which  the  Indians  were,  when  the  Egyp- 
tians came  among  them  if,  could  have  invented  thofe  fciences  and 
arts,  but  muft  have  got  them  from  the  Egyptians  together  with  their 
religion  and  their  polity;  and  as  fciences  and  arts  never  can  be  in- 
vented without  a  language  of  art,  if  1  fliall  fucceed  in  proving,  as  I 
hope  I  fhall,  that  the  Indians  got  even  their  language  from  Egypt, 
this,  I  think,  will  be  demonftration,  that  the  Indians  got  all  their 

arts 

*  Ibid.  p.  425. 
^  Ibid.  p.  429. 
\  See  Page  306.  of  this  vol. 


Chap.III.        ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  ^i;^ 

arts  and  fciences  from  Egypt.  And,  I  am  perfuaded,  as  I  have 
elfewhere  obferved,  that  more  of  the  learning  and  philofophy  went 
from  Egypt  to  India,  than  went  from  Egypt  to  Greece,  and  from 
thence  came  to  us.  I  hold,  therefore,  that  it  is  chiefly  in  India  that 
we  are  to  fearch  for  thofe  arts  and  fciences,  and  that  ivifdom  or  phi- 
lofophy^ as  the  word  ought  to  be  tranflated  *,  which  Mofes  learned 
in  Egypt :  And,  I  think,  it  does  great  honour  to  Britain,  that  we 
have  fent  to  India  fo  great  a  fcholar  as  Sir  William  Jones,  who, 
with  the  affiftance  of  the  learned  Ibciety  which  he  has  there  form- 
ed, will  in  time  produce  to  the  world  the  treafures  of  learning  to- 
be  found  in  India.  He  is  by  this  time,  no  doubt,  mafter  of  the 
key  of  their  knowledge,  I  mean  the  Shanfcrit  language;  which,  in 
a  letter  that  I  had  from  him  two  or  three  years  ago,  he  told  me,  he 
had  then  difcovered,  to  be  a  mofl:  perfed  language,  more  perfed:  than 
even  the  Greek.  Now,  in  this  language,  all  the  books  upon  arts 
and  fciences  in  India  are  written. 

Thus,  I  think,  I  have  proved,  not  only  that  the  Egyptians  were 
in  India,  but  that  they  carried  with  them  to  that  country,  religion 
and  polity,  arts  and  fciences:  And,  that  their  religion  and  arts  were 
from  India  propagated  to  the  neighbouring  countries,  not  only  thofe 
upon  the  continent,  but  to  the  iflands  fuch  as  Ceylon  and  Japan, 

If  this  be  fo,  it  muft  appear  very  furprifing,  that  the  French  acade- 
mician, M.  de  Guignes,  who  has  w'ritten  three  differtations  upon  the 
religion  and  the  arts  of  India,  publilhed  in  the  40th  vol.  of  the  Memoirs 
of  the  French  Academy,  fhould  never  have  thought  of  deriving  the 
reHgion  and  arts  of  India  from  Egypt,  but  has  made  them  to  be  all 
of  their  own  growth,  which,  as  I  have  faid  f,  was  impoflible  among 
a  people,  who,  I  have  fhown,  were  in  antient  times  altogether  bar- 

VoL.  IV.  R  r  barous 

*  Origin  of  Language,  vol.  5.  p-  3c  i. 
f  Page  312.  of  this  vol. 


314  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.         Book  III. 

barous  and  lavage.     And  it  is  the  more  furprifing,  that,  in  the  fame 
volume,  he   has  publiflied   a  diflertation,  to  prove  that  the  Chinefe 
got  their  religion  and  philofophy  from  the  Egyptians ;  and,  in  ano- 
ther volume  of  thefe  memoirs,  he  has  maintained,  that  they  were  ori- 
ginally an  Egyptian  colony.     Now,  if  the  Egyptians  travelled  as  far 
as  China,  and  introduced  a  religion  and  philofophy  there,  it  would 
be  very  extraordinary,  if  they  had   not  taken  India  in  their  way, 
and   carried  to  that  country,  likewife,  religion,  arts,  and  faiences. 
But  it  appears  to  me,  that  M.  de  Guignes  did  not  know,  or  did  not 
believe,  that  the  Egyptians  ever  were  in  India ;  for  that  they  had 
religion,  arts,  and  fciences,  among  them,  he  acknowledges,  when 
he  fays,  that  they  carried  them  to  China. 

Among  other  things  that  they  carried  to  China,  M.  de  Guignes,  in  a 
very  ingenious  treatile  that  he  has  written  upon  the  comparifon  of  the 
hieroglyphics  of  Egypt  with  the  Chinefe  written  language,  has  fhown 
a  wonderful  connection  betwixt  that  language  and  the  hieroglyphics  of 
Egypt.  And  tliere  is  one  fimilarity,  which,  I  think,  it  is  not  improper 
here  to. take  notice  of,  as  it  fhows  that  the  Egyptians  invented  one  art 
more  than  thofe  I  have  mentioned.  The  ait  I  mean  is  the  notation 
of  numbers,  not  by  words,  but  by  certain  figns  or  marks,  fuch  as 
are  necelVary  in  fetting  dov/n  and  operating  upon  numbers;  which 
could  not  be  done,  if  they  were  many  in  number,  by  words.  M. 
de  Guignes  has  particularly  obferved,  that,  in  the  Egyptian  hiero- 
glyphics and  the  written  language  of  China,  the  number  ten  is 
exprefled  by  the  fame  mark,  viz.  the  letter  X.  It  was  marked 
in  the  fame  way  by  the  Romans  ;  and  it  is  fo  at  this  day  by  us,  in 
imitation  of  them  :  And  as  the  Romans  were  a  moft  antient  colony 
of  Greeks,  who  came  to  Italy  17  generations  before  the  Trojan 
war,  as  the  Halicarnafiian  informs  us,  I  can  have  no  doubt,  but 
that  it  was  the  antient  mark  for  that  number  among  the  Greeks, 
which  they  got,  with  their  other  arts  and  i'ciences,  from  the  Egyp- 
tians, 


Chap.m.        ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS. 


3»^ 


rians,  where  it  certainly  was  In  moft  antient  times.      From  the  Ro- 
man notation  of  numbers,  we  may  learn  the  whole  progrefs  of  the 
art  as  it  was  firft  pradifed:  They  began  by  marking  unity  by  a  fimple 
ftraight  perpendicular  Kbe:  With  iuch  lines  they  went  on  counting  tiif 
they  came  to  the  number ^i'^:    And  this  they  marked  by  two  of  thefe 
lines  joined  together  af  the  loWer  end,  fo  as  to  form  an  acute  angle, 
and  make  this  figure,  V.     Then  they  went  on  adding  to  this  num- 
ber, V,  four  units,  marked,  as  I  have  laid,  by  ftraight  lines:  And  thus 
they  arrived  at  the  number  tcn-^  which  was  very  properly,  1  think, 
marked  by  adding  the  X.wo  Jives  together,  fo  as  to  fet  the  one  above 
the  other;  which  makes  the  figure  X.     And  then  they  went  on  count- 
ing by  'tihits,  fives,  and  tens,  till  they  came  to  greater  numbers,  fuch 
as  50,  100,  5C0,  and  1000,  which  they  marked  by  the  letters  L,  C, 
D,  and  M.      It  appears,  therefore,  that  the  firft  arithmetic  was  qui- 
nary, and  not   decimal,   as   among  us ;  and  that  men  at  firft  pro- 
ceeded in  numbering  by  Jives,  as  Proteus  did  in  numbering  his  fea 
calves  *.     And  it  was  very  natural  that  men,  when  they  firft  began 
to  number,  fliould  firft  count  the  fingers  of  one  hand;  and,  flopping 
there,  fhould  begin  again,  and  go  to  the  fingers  of  the  other   hand. 
In  this  way  they  counted  10,  and  there  they  alfo  ftopped,  and  again 
went  over  the  fame  numeration:   And  it  was  this  fecond  flop,  which, 
I  am  perfuaded,  introduced  the  decimal  arithmetic. 

And  here  it  may  not  be  improper  to  obferve,  how  much  better 
the  notation  of  numbers,  by  what  we  call  Arabian  cyphers,  but  which^ 
as  is  v/ell  known,  are  truly  Indian,  is  than  the  Roman  notation; 
by  the  Indian  notation  all  numbers,  however  great,  are  exprefled  by 
nine  figures,  with  the  addition  of  zeros,  denoting  only  that  any  of 
the  nine  figures  prefixed  is  to  be  underftood  as  multiplied  by  as 
many  tens  as  there  are  zeros.  In  this  way,  not  onlv  the  o-reateft 
numbers  are  eafily  marked,  but  every  operation  upon  them,  of  ad- 

R  !•  ^  ding, 

*  Odyff".  lib.  4.  V.  412. 


3i6  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.         Book  III. 

ding,  fubftrading,  multiplying,  and  dividing,  pradlifed  in  the  eafieft 
way.  This  art,  however,  was  abfolutely  unknown  to  the  Greeks 
and  Romans.  But,  I  think,  it  is  probable,  that  it  was  an  Egyptian 
invention  in  later  times,  after  they  had  taken  to  alphabetical  writing, 
and  difufed  hieroglyphical  :  So  that,  I  believe,  it  came  from  Egypt 
to  India  as  well  as  other  arts.  For,  I  can  hardly  perfuade  myfelf 
that  the  Indians  could  have  invented  it,  any  more  than  other  arts, 
which  they  certainly  got  from  Egypt :  Nor  do  I  think,  it  is  well 
vouched  that  the  Indians  have  invented  any  art  of  any  confequence. 

The  notation  of  numbers  by  the  antient  Egyptian,  Roman,  and 
Indian  marks,  is  all  that  remains  in  Europe  of  the  moft  antient  of 
all  writing,  that  is  the  hieroglyphical.  And,  though  it  be  very  much 
inferior  to  the  alphabetical  writing,  which,  at  the  fame  time  that  it 
prefents  to  us  the  ideas  intended  to  be  expreffed,  gives  us  alfo  the 
language  or  founds,  by  which  fpeech  expreiTes  them ;  (fo  that  we 
have,  at  the  fame  time,  a  language  that  is  both  fpoken  and  writ- 
ten) ;  yet,  with  regard  to  the  expreflion  of  numbers,  it  is  much 
more  commodious  than  any  language  that  is  fpoken  or  written:  For 
no  great  operations  upon  numbers  could  be  performed  either  by 
words  or  writing  ;  whereas,  by  thofe  hieroglyphical  marks,  and 
particularly  by  the  Arabian  cyphers,  as  we  call  them,  they  are  per- 
formed with  the  greateft  eafe,  and  alfo  with  the  greateft  clearnefe 
and  diftindtnefs. 

Thus,  I  think,  I  have  proved,  that  arts  and  fciences  came  from 
Egypt  to  India,  even  the  neceffary  arts  of  life,  fuch  as  agriculture. 
And,  indeed,  the  Indians,  when  the  Egyptians  came  among  them, 
were  in  fuch  a  barbarous  ftate,  that,  I  think,  it  is  impoffible,  they 
could  have  invented  any  art  of  the  lead  value,  and  much  lefs  fcience: 
And  I  will  endeavour  to  prove,  in  the  next  chapter,  that  they  had 
not  invented  that  art,  which  is  the  parent  art  of  all  others,  and  at  the 

fame 


Chap.III.        ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  317 

fame  time  of  mofl;  difficult  invention,  I  mean  language;  though  it  is 
poffible,  that  they  may  have  varied  and  diftinguifhed  their  animal 
cries  by  fome  articulate  founds,  which  they  might  have  learned  by 
imitation  of  fome  birds,  fuch  as  the  cuckoo.  But  a  language  of  art 
they  never  could  have  formed,  but  muft  have  learned  it  from  the 
Eg^^tians,  by  whom  they  were  taught  their  other  arts  and  fciencesj 
for  a  language  of  art  is  itfelf  a  work  of  fcience,  and  even  of  philo- 
fophy.  Analyfis,  which  is  the  great  work  of  fcience,  and  with- 
out which  there  can  be  neither  fcience  nor  philofophy,  muft  be 
pradifed  in  forming  a  language  of  art,  of  which  not  only  the  found 
muft  be  analyfed,  and  fo  an  alphabet  formed,  as  was  done  in  Egypt, 
but  the  fenfe  of  the  words  muft  alfo  be  analyfed  into  what  is  called 
the  parts  of  fpcech^  but  which  are  firft  analyfed  according  to  the 
method  of  Ariftotle  into  fiibjlances  and  accidents^  each  of  which  a- 
gain  is  fo  analyfed  and  fubdivided,  as  to  produce  the  parts  of  fpeech  we 
ufe,  without  the  knowledge  of  which,  there  can  be  no  art  of  language. 
Such  an  art,  the  work  of  fcience  and  even  of  philofophy,  I  call 
the  parent  art  of  all  other  arts  and  of  all  fciences,  without  which 
no  other  art  of  any  value,  and  much  lefs  fcience,  could  have  been 
invented,  or  communicated  when  iuA^ented.  Now,  if  I  can  prove, 
that  this  art  was  not  only  invented  in  Egypt,  (and  where  elfe  could 
it  have  been  invented,  but  in  the  only  country  then  in  the  world 
where  there  was  fcience  and  philofophy),  but  was  carried  by  the 
Egyptians  to  India,  I  think,  it  muft  be  prefumed,  that  it  came  from 
Egypt  to  countries  lefs  diftant  than  India,  and  from  them  to  every 
other  country  of  the  earth.  And,  if  fo,  then  Egypt  is  truly  what  I 
have  all  along  fuppofed  it  to  be,  in  the  courfe  of  this  work,  the 
native  country  of  all  arts  and  fciences. 

CHAP. 


3i8  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.         Book  III. 


CHAP.         IV. 

^be  Egyptians  mujl  have  had  the  ufe  of  a   Language  of  Art  before 
they  could  have  invented fo  many  Arts  and  Sciences^  as  it  is  proved 
they  did  invent. — "This   Language  they  inufl  have  invented  them- 
f elves  ^  or  got  from  fome  other  country; — no  other  country  but  Egypt, 
where  it  could  have  been  invented. — The  Phoenicians  could  not  have 
been  the  inventors  of  a  Language  of  /Irt,  for  reafons   -which  are 
giz'en. — The  quefion  is,  Whether  Ofirls  carried  to  India  the  Lan- 
guage of  Egypt,  as  well  as  its  other  arts  ? — If  the  language  of  In- 
dia were  a  barbarous  language,  it  could  not  be  fuppofcd  to  have 
come  from  Egypt.  —  But  the  Shanfcrit,  the  original  la/iguage  of  In- 
dia, a  language  of  the  greatejl  art. — This  proved  by  the  tefimony  of 
Sir  William   Jones,  and  of  Brafey  Halhed: — //  excels  in  the  three 
great  arts  of  language,  Derivation,  Compofition,  and  Flexion,  and 
particularly  in  the  lafl. — In  the  pronunciation  it  has  both   Melody 
and  Rhythm; — aud  its  Poetry  is  formed  by  foort  and  long  fyllables: 
— A  fpecimen  of  that   Poetry  given  by  Brafey  Halhed. — In  that 
fpecimen,  the  words  are  of  great  length,  and  full  of  vowels. — Their 
alphabet  co?jfJts  of  50  letters. — The  long  and  fhort  vowels  marked 
by  different  characters. — The  author  learned  more  of  the   Shanfcrit 
language  from   Mr  Wilkins  than  he  has  learned  any  other  way.  — 
Mr  Wilkins  has  proved  by  faB,  what  the  Author  thought  could  be 
only  proved  by  argument,  that  the  Shanfcrit  was  the  Egyptian  lan- 
guage imported  into  India  by  Ofiris. — This  proved  by  comparing  the 
Greek   with   the   Shanfcrit. — General  reflcBions  on  the  tranfmijfion 
of  languages  from  one  country  to  another,  and  the  changes  thereby 
made  in   the  languages. — And,  firft,   as   to  the  pronunciation. — 

That 


Chap.IV.        ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  31^ 

That  changes  in  the  fame  vat'ion;  but  much  more  ivhen  a  language  is 
carried  to  a  different  nation^  and  that  nation  at  a  great  difiance. — 
2dly,  As  to  the  fefifc  of  the  words. — This  changed,  too,  by  the  lan- 
guage going  to  a  different  country. — Examples  of  derivative  lan- 
guages much  changed  from  the  original ; — fuch  as  the  Italian, 
French,  and  Spanifh,  and  the  dialcBs  of  the  Gothic. — Though  thcfe 
languages  did  not  travel  far,  yet  fo  changed  as  not  to  be  ititcUigible, 
though  one  undcrflands  the  parent  language :— So  different  alfo  front 
one  another,  that  the  underflanding  of  one  will  not  make  you  tindcr- 
ffand  another. — The  change  mnfl  have  been  much  greater  in  the 
antient  Egyptian  language,  when  it  travelled  as  far  as  India,  and 
ivas  introduced  among  a  people  fo  barbarous  as  the  Indians  then 
'were. — As  it  is  fpoken  by  the  common  people  there,  it  is  not  to  be 
known  for  the  language  of  antient  Egypt,  but  preferved  among  the 
Bramins. — Another  obfcrvation  upon  the  paffage  of  language  from 
one  country  to  another. — The  pronunciation  mufi  be  very  tnucb 
changed,  particularly  of  the  vowels; — alfo  of  the  confonants. — Words 
of  the  fame  found  do  not  prove  two  languages  to  be  the  fame,--' 
not  even  if  they  be  of  the  fame  fenfe  likewife,  unlcfs  there  be  many 
of  them,  or  ivords  that  mujl  have  been  original  in  all  languages. — 
A  conformity  betwixt  tivo  languages  in  the  three  great  arts  vf  lan- 
guage, Compofition,  Derivation,  and  Flection,  the  furefi  proof  of 
their  being  originally  the  fame  language. — The  names  of  nwubers, 
and  of  members  of  the  human  body,  and  of  relations^  mufl  be  original 
ivords  in  all  languages.  —  ift,  Of  the  names  of  numbers. — Thtfe  in 
Shanfcrit  the  fame  as  in  Greek  and  Latin. — Some  anomalies  in  th.fe 
numbers  of  the  Shanfcrit,  and  the  fame  in  Greek  and  Latin. — The 
names  of  the  members  of  the  human  body  the  fame  in  Shanfcrit  as  in 
Greek  and  Latin, — alfo  the  names  of  Relations. — The  name  of  God 
in  Shanfcrit,  the  fame  as  in  Greek  and  Latin, — many  -words  of  the 
Shanfcrit  more  Latin  than  Greek. — Inflances  of  that.  — A  difference 
in  the  found  of  the  words  in  Shanfcrit,  ajid  in  Greek,  and  Latin. 

"—This 


320  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.         Book  IK. 

—  This  accounted  for,  from  the  great  changes  in  the  pronunciation 
of  language.  —  Of  Greek  names  of  places  and  perfons  in  India,  'when 
Alexander  -was  there, — thefe  names  more  Greek  than  the  prefent 
Shanfcrit. — The  reafon  of  this. — A  great  many  more  Greek  words 
to  be  colle&ed  from  the  Shanfcrit. — Mr  Wilkin s  has  given  the  au- 
thor about  70  jnore. — Other  ivords  he  has  got  from  other  travellers 
in  India. — Of  the  refemblance  of  the  tivo  languages  in  the  three 
great  arts  of  language,  Compofttion,  Derivation,  and  FleElion. — 
Examples  of  compofttion  in  the  Shanfcrit. — One  extraordinary  com- 
pofttion, with  the  A  privative,  as  common  in  the  Shanfcrit  as  in  the 
Greek. — Of  derivation  in  the  Shanfcrit,  Mr  Wit  kins  has  given  the 
author  no  example, — but  it  is  ufed  in  that  language  as  well  as  com- 
pofttion and  fieElion. — Of  fie  Elton  in  the  Shanfcrit.  —  The  great  va- 
riety of  this  art  of  language. — Verbs  in  ija  in  the  Shanfcrit  as  well 
OS  in  the  Greek, — a  fpecimen  of  four  perfons  of  the  prefent  tenfe  of 
the  fubflantive  verb  in  the  Shanfcrit,  the  fame  with  the  Greek  and 
Latin. — Mr  Wilkins,  by  cotriparing  the  two  languages,  has  proved 
that  in  faSl  the  two  languages  are  the  fame, — has  fettled,  in  this 
way,  a  fa£l  luhich  was  denied  by  fome  antient  authors,  that  the 
Egyptians  were  in  India. — The  learned  world  thereby  much  oblig- 
ed to  him. 


BEFORE  I  undertook  to  prove,  that  the  Egyptians  were  the  in- 
ventors of  the  art  of  language,  I  thought  it  was  proper  to 
prove,  that  they  had  invented  other  ai'ts  and  fciences*.  This  I  hope 
I  have  done  to  the  fatisfadtion  of  my  readers  ;  and  if  fo,  the  necef- 
fary  confequence  is,  that  they  mull  have  had  the  ufe  of  language, 
and  of  a  language  of  art,  without  which  it  is  impoffible  that  arts  and 
fciences  can  be  invented  or  cultivated.  This  langur.ge,  therefore, 
they  muft  either  have  invented  themfelves,  or  got  it   from   fome  o- 

ther 

•  Book  :.  chap.  4.  of  this  vol. 


Chap.  IV.        ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  321 

ther  nation.  Now,  I  defire  to  know,  what  other  nation  there  was, 
in  thofe  very  antient  times,  that  could  have  invented  fo  great  an 
art  and  of  more  difficult  invention  than  any  other.  Some,  as  I  have 
obferved,  think  that  the  Phoenicians  may  have  been  the  inventors 
of  this  art;  and  that  the  Egyptians  may  have  got  it  from  them.  But 
I  think  I  have  fhown  *,  that  it  is  not  only  in  the  higheft  degree  im- 
probable, but  even  impoffible,  that  fuch  a  nation  as  the  Phoenicians 
Ihould  have  invented  a  langUAge  of  art,  the  moft  wonderful  of  all 
arts,  and,  at  the  fame  time,  of  the  moft  difficult  invention  ;  and  I 
have  ihown  alfo,  that  it  is  highly  probable  that,  as  they  antiently 
lived  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Egyptians,  they  got  this  art,  as 
well  as  other  nations  did,  from  the  Egyptians.  And  they  borrow- 
ed one  thing  from  the  Egyptians,  which  no  other  nation  did,  I  mean 
circumcifionf ;  for  the  Colchians,  who  pradtifed  circumcifion,  were 
a  colony  of  Egyptians;  and  the  Jews  were  diredled  by  their  God 
to  ufe  that  rite. 

* 

Taking  it,  therefore,  for  granted,  that  the  Egyptians  invented  the 
language  of  art  they  rauft  have  ufed,  I  am  to  inquire,  in  this  chapter, 
whether  Ofiris,  with  the  other  arts  he  brought  with  him  to  India,  did 
not  alfo  bring  the  art  of  language.  If  the  language  of  India  were  a 
barbarous  jargon,  fuch  as  the  languages  I  have  mentioned  in  the  firft 
volume  of  the  Origin  of  Language,  it  might  be  thought  to  have  been 
invented  by  themfelves,  or  learned  from  fome  other  barbarous  na- 
tion in  their  neighbourhood.  But  if  it  can  be  ihown  to  be  a  lan- 
guage of  the  greateft  art,  fuch  as  never  could  have  been  invented  by 
the  Indians,  in  the  ftate  they  were  in  when  Ofiris  came  among  them, 
nor  by  any  other  nation  in  the  world  except  the  Egyptians,  it  will 
follow  of  courfe,  that  it  mufl:  have  been  imported  by  Ofiris.  Now, 
the   original   language   of  India,  of  which   all   the  other  languages 

Vol.  IV.  S  f  fpoken 

*  See  p.  277.  of  this  vol. 

'•  See  Vol.  I.  of  Origin  of  Language,  p.  632.  (2d  edition). 


322  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.         Book  III. 

fpoken  in  that  country  are  dialects  more  or  lefs  corrupt  *,  is  the' 
Shanfcrit,  the  moft  perfedl  language  that  is,  or,  I  believe,  ever  was, 
on  this  earth ;  for  it  is  more  perfedt  than  the  Greek.  This  Sir  Wil- 
liam Jones,  who  is  well  knowa  to  be  learned  in  many  different  lan- 
guages, and  particularly  in  the  Greek,  has  told  us  in  cne  of  his  pub- 
lications :  But  if  he  had  not  faid  fo,  we  know  fo  many  particulars 
concerning  the  form  and  ftrudlure  of  it,  as  to  be  convinced  that  he 
is  in  the  right. 

Mr  Braffey  Halhed,  in  his  preface  to  the  tranflation  of  the  Code  of 
Gentoo  Languages,  has  told  us  feveral  things  concerning  the  Shanfcrit, 
which  fliow  it  to  be  a  language  of  the  greateft  art:  And  particularly  it 
abounds  in  fledion,  which,  ss  I  have  more  than  once  cbferved,  is  the 
greateft  art  of  language  :  For  it  has  no  lefs  than  feven  declenfions, 
with  fmgular,  dual,  and  plural  numbers;  and  in  the  other  two  great 
arts  of  language,  derivation  and  compofition,  it  is  alfo,  he  fays,  very 
abundant.  The  pronounciation  of  it,  he  fays,  is  as  mufical  as  that 
of  the  Greek,  having  both  melody  and  rhythm  ;  fo  that,  when  it  is 
fpoken,  it  appears  to  be  a  kind  of  recitative,  very  like  what  the  Jews 
ufc  in  their  fy nagogues f .  Their  poetr^'-,  like  the  Greek  and  Latin, 
is  formed  by  long  and  fhort  fyllables  %■.  And  our  author,  in  his  pre- 
face Ij,  has  given  us  fome  fpecimens  of  their  moft  anlient  poetiy, 
where  the  quantities  are  esactiy  marked  ;  and  it  Is  to  be  obferved, 
that  the  words  are  of  great  length,  and  full  of  vowels,  which  muft 
give  a  very  pleafant  found  to  their  poetry,  and  in  general  to  their  lan- 
guage. Their  alphabet,  lie  fays,  confifts  of  50  letters,  and  their  fhort 
and-  long  vowels  are  marked  by  ditferent  characters,  which  Ihows 
the  regard  they  have  to  the  rhythm  of  their  language ;  and  it  is  to 
be  wiftied,  that  the  Greeks  and  Romans  had  fhown  the  fame  regard 

to 

•  The  names  of  places  and  of  perfons,  which  in  all  languages  muft  have  been  among 
the  firft  words,  are  all,  according  to  my  information,  Shanfcrit  words, 
t  Page  25.  t  Page  27.  Il  Page  26. 


Chnp.  IV.        AN.TIENT  METAPHYSICS.  323 

to  the  rhythm  of  their  languages,  which  would  have  failed  the  fcho- 
lar  a  "Teat  deal  of  time  and  trouble. 

o 

L  ur,  concerning  the  Shanfcrit,  I  have  not  learned  i'o  much  from 
any  author  that  I  have  read,  nor  from  any  man  with  whom  I  have 
converfed,  as  from  Mr  Wilkins.  He,  as  I  have  faid  elfewhere*,  ftu- 
died  this  language  for  16  years  under  tvro  Bramin  mafters,  and,  I 
am  perfuaded,  underftands  more  of  it  than  any  man  in  Europe. 
Before  I  had  the  pleafure  of  his  acquaintance,  I  thought  it  highly 
probable,  that  a  language  of  fo  great  art  as  the  Shanfcrit  could  not 
have  been  invented  in  a  country  fo  barbarous  as  India  was  when  the 
Eg)^ptians  came  to  it,  but  was  imported  into  India  with  other  arts 
by  Ofu'is.  But  now  I  am  not  only  convinced  of  this  by  arguments, 
but  Mr  Wilkins  has  proved  it  by  fads:  For  he  has  proved  to  my 
conviction,  fuch  a  refemblance  betwixt  the  Greek  and  the  Shanfcrit 
that  the  one  muft  be  a  dialed  of  the  other,  or  both  of  the  fame  ori- 
ginal language.  Now,  the  Greek  is  certainly  not  a  dialedt  of  the 
Shanfcrit,  any  more  than  the  Shanfcrit  is  of  the  Greek.  They  muft 
therefore,  be  both  dialeds  of  the  fame  language  :  And  that  lan- 
guage could  be  no  other  than  the  language  of  Egypt,  brought  into 
India  by  Ofiris,  of  which  undoubtedly  the  Greek  was  a  dialedt,  as 
I  think  I  have  proved  f .  But,  before  I  give  the  reader  the  proofs 
which  Mr  Wilkins  has  furnifhed  me,  by  comparing  the  two  lan- 
guages together,  and  fliowing  how  much  they  refemble  one  another  . 
I  will  make  fome  general  refledions  upon  the  tranfmiffion  of  lan- 
guages from  one  country  or  nation  to  another,  and  what  changes 
they  muft  neceflarily  undergo  in  their  paftage. 

And,  in  the  ^/y?  place,  as  language  is  an  art  of  vulgar  and  daily 

ufe,  pafling  through  the  mouths  of  the  whole  people  of  a  country, 

Sf  2  it 

*  Vol.  VI.  of  Origin  of  Language,  p.  149.  in  the  note  at  the  bottom  of  the  page, 
-|-  Vol.  I.  Origin  of  Language,  book  3.  chap.  13. 


324  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.         Book  III. 

k  muft  neceflarily  undergo  many  alterations  even  in  the  fame  na- 
tion ;  nor  do  I  believe,  that  there  is  a  nation  at  prefent  in  Europe^ 
in  which  the  language  novsr  fpoken  is  the  fame  that  was  fpoken  three 
or  four  hundred  years  ago.  But  the  change  muft  be  much  greater, 
when  the  language  paffes  to  a  nation  living  at  a  great  diftance,  and 
under  a  different  climate,  and  where  confequently  the  organs  of 
pronunciation  muft  be  affefted  more  or  lefs  by  the  difference  of 
climate.  And  not  only  the  pronounciation  of  the  words,  in  this 
paffage,  from  one  country  to  another,  wall  be  changed,  but  alfo  the 
fenfe  of  the  words,  which  is  a  thing  as  arbitrary  as  the  found,  and 
therefore  very  liable  to  be  altered,  as  well  as  the  found,  by  common 
life. 

How  much  a  language,  derived   from  another,  may  be  changed 
from  the  original,  both  in  found  and  fenfe,  the  French,  the  Italian, 
and  Spanilh  languages  are   a  clear  proof.     They  are  undoubtedly 
derived  from  the  Latin,  and  yet  are  languages  fo  different  from  the 
Latin,  as  not  to  be  underftood  by  a  man  w^ho  only  underftands  the 
original  language;  and  fo  different  from  one  another,  that  the  know- 
ledge of  one  of  them  will  not  make  you  underftand  the  other  two ; 
vet  there  is  a  great  funilarity  to  the  Latin  in  the  found   of  verj'-  ma- 
ny of  the  words,  and  in  the  fenfe  alfo  ;  and  there  is  a  good  deal  of 
the  art  of  the  Latin  language   in  them,  particularly  in  the  genders 
and  numbers  of  nouns,  and  in  the  tenfes  of  verbs  form^ed  by  fledion, 
though  they  have  loft  the  forming  the  cafes   of  nouns  by  fledion. 
The  fame  is  the  cafe  of  the  Englifh  and  other  dialeds  of  the  Gothic, 
which  are  fo  much  changed  from  the  original  language,  preferved  in 
Iceland,  that  the  knowledge  of  it  will  not  make  you  underftand  any 
of  its  dialeds  fpoken  on  the  continent  of  Europe,  and  which  are  all 
fo  different  from  one  another,  that  by  underftanding   one   of  them 
you  do   not   underftand   any  other   of  them.     Now,  if  thefe   lan- 
guages, which  did  not  travel  far,  (and  one  of  them  did  not  travel  at 

all, 


Chap.  IV.       ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  315 

all,  I  meaa  the  Italian,  but  was  learned  by  the  Goths  and  Lombards 
in  the  country  itfelf),  are  fo  much  changed  from  the  original.  What 
muft  have  been  the  cafe  of  the  language  of  Egypt,  which  travelled 
as  far  as  India,  and  was  imported  among  a  people  fo  barbarous  as 
the  Indians  then  were,  very  much  more  barbarous  than  thofe  na- 
tions who  learned  the  Latin  or  the  Gothic  ?  And,  accordingly,  the 
Shanfcrit,  which,  I  think,  I  may  call  the  original  language,  is  fo 
much  corrupted  in  the  common  dialeds  of  it  fpoken  in  India,  that 
if  it  had  not  been  preferved  among  the  Bramins  or  Priefts,  one  of 
the  inftitutlons,  which  Ofiris  brought  with  him,  artiong  many  others, 
from  Egypt,  it  would  have  been  entirely  loft;  but,  as  it  is  preferved 
among  them,  it  appears  to  be  a  more  pure  dialedl,  of  the  antient  E^ 
gyptian,  than  even  the  Greek, 

Another  obfervation,  I  liiake  upon  the  trarifmiffion  of  languages 
from  one  country  to  another,  is,  that  the  pronunciation  muft  needs 
be  very  much  altered,  and  particularly  that  of  the  vowels,  which,  as 
they  are  nothing  but  the  breath  modified  in  a  certain  way,  are  very 
liable  to  be  changed  in  the  fame  language  fpoken  in  the  fame  coun- 
try, as  is  evident  from  innumerable  examples  that  might  be  quoted 
in  Greek  and  Latin.  The  confonants,  too,  of  the  fame  organ,  afe 
very  apt  to  be  changed  into  one  another,  even  by  the  people  of  the 
fame  country,  but  much  more  by  foreigners  who  learn  the  lano-uae-e 
and  whofe  organs  of  pronunciation,  if  they  live  under  a  different 
climate,  muft,  as  I  have  obferved,  be  affedled  by  the  climate  and 
therefore  operate  differently.  Another  obfervation  I  make  is,  that 
fome  words,  in  difterent  languages,  being  of  the  fame  found,  will 
not  prove  the  language  to  have  been  originally  the  fame ;  for  that 
may  happen  by  accident,  and  even  if  fome  words  fhould  be  the  fame 
in  fenfe  as  well  as  in  found,  neither  will  that  prove  the  languao-es  to 
be  of  the  fame  origin;  for  it  often  happens,  that  one  language  borrows 
words  from  another,  though  the  one  language  be  not  the  original 

of 


326  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.         Book  IIL 

of  the  other,  nor  both  derived  from  the  fame  original.  But,  in  or- 
der to  prove  that  the  languages  were  originally  the  fame,  there  muft 
be  many  words  in  both  agreeing  in  fenfe  as  well  as  lound,  and 
thefe  fuch  as  muft  have  been  original  words  in  every  language,  de- 
noting things  which  muft  lirft  have  got  names  in  every  language  ; 
fo  that  when  thefe  names  are  the  fame  in  two  languages,  we  are 
fure  that  the  two  muft  have  been  originally  the  fame. 

My  laft  obfervation  is,  that,  as  the  art  of  a  language  is  lefs  arbi- 
trary and  more  determined  by  rule  than  either  the  found  or  fenfe  of 
the  words,  it  is  one  of  the  principal  things,  by  which  the  connedion 
of  languages  with  one  another  is  to  be  difcovered  :  And,  there- 
fore, when  we  find  that  two  languages  pra£life  the  three  great  arts 
of  language,  derivation,  compofition,  and  fledlion,  in  the  fame  way, 
we  may  conclude,  I  think,  with  great  certainty,  that  the  one  lan- 
guage is  the  original  of  the  other,  or  that  they  are  both  dialedls  of 
the  fame  language. 

To  apply  thefe  obfervations  to  the  fimilarities  which  Mr  Wilklns 
has  difcovered  betwixt  the  Shanfcrit  and  the  Greek  ; — I  will  begin 
with  thefe  words,  which,  as  I  have  faid,  muft  have  been  original 
words  in  all  languages,  as  the  things  denoted  by  them  muft  have 
been  known  in  the  firft  ages  of  civility,  and  have  got  names;  fo 
that  it  is  impoffible,  that  one  language  could  have  borrowed  them 
from  another,  unlefs  it  was  a  dervative  or  dialed  of  that  language. 
Of  this  kind  are  the  names  of  numbers,  of  the  members  of  the  hu- 
man body,  and  of  relations,  fuch  as  that  di  father^  mother^  and  bro- 
ther. 

And,  firjl-t  ^s  to  numbers,  the  ufe  of  which  muft  have  been  coe- 
val with  civil  fociety.  The  words  in  the  Shanfcrit,  for  the  numbers 
from  one  to  ten,  are  ek,  dwec,  tree,  chatoor,  punch,  JJoat,  fopt,  aght, 

nava. 


Chap.  IV.       A  N  T I  E  N  T  M  E  T  A  P  H  Y  S I C  S.  32 


o^/ 


nava^  das^  which   certainly  have   an   affinity  to  the  Greek  or  Latin 
names  for  thole  numbers.     Then  they  proceed  towards  20,  faying  ten 
and  oiic^  ten  and  /ico,  and  fo  forth,  till  they  come  to  20 ;   for   their 
arithmetic  is  decimal  as  well  as  ours.  Twenty  they  exprefs  by  the  word 
veenfatce.  Then  they  go  on  till  they  come  to  30,  which  they  exprefs 
by  the  word  treerrfat,  of  which  the  word  expreffing  three  is  part  of 
the  compofition,  as  well  as  it  is  of  the  Greek  and  Latin   names  for 
thofe  numbers  :     And  in  like  manner  they  go  on  expreffing  40,  50, 
&c.  by  a  like  compofition,  with  the  words  expreffing  fnnple  num- 
bers, viz   4,  5,  &c.  till  they  come  to  the  number   100,  which  they 
exprefs  hy  fat,  a  word  different  from  either  the  Gi'eek  or  Latin  name 
for  that  number.      But,  in  this  numeration,  there  is  a  very  remark- 
able conformity  betwixt  the  Vv'ord  in  Shanfcrit  expreffing  twenty  or 
tivice  ten,  and   the   words   in  Greek  and  Latin  expreffing  the  fame 
number ;  for  in   none  of  the  three  languages  has  the  word  any  re- 
lation to  the  number  2,  which,  by  multiplying  10,   makes  20,  fuch 
as  the  words  expreffing  the  numbers  30,  40,  &c.  have  to  the  words 
expreffing  three  ox  four ;  for  in  Greek  the  Vv'ord  is  ^r/.o(T^,  v/hich  ex- 
prefles  no  relation  to  the  number  tivo ;  nor  does  the   Latin  vi^wti 
but  which  appears   to  have  more  refemblance  to  the  Shanfcrit  word 
vcenfatee.     And,  thus  it  appears,  that  in  the  anomalies  of  the  two  lan- 
guages of  Greek  and  Latin,  there  appears  to  be  fome  conformity  with 
the  Shanfcrit. 

As  to  the  members  of  the  human  body,  Mr  Wilklns  has  given 
me  the  names  of  three  of  them,  of  theyio/,  which  h  pada,  undoubt- 
edly the  fame  with  the  ^oj?  '^o^oc  of  the  Greeks,  and  for  the  7iofe, 
which  is  nafa,  the  fame  with  the  Latin  word  fiafis.  There  is  ano- 
ther word  which  he  has  given  me,  a  word  of  great  importance,  and 
which  muft  have  been  as  antient  in  every  language  as  the  relip-iou 
of  the  country.  It  is  the  name  of  God  in  Shanfcrit,  which  is  Deva, 
and  is  the  q^.s  of  the  Greeks,  and  comes  nearer  to  the  Deus   of  the 

Latins, 


328  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.         Book  IH. 

Latins,  whofe  cuftom  it  was  to  change  the  afperated  T  or  e  into  the 
middle  letter  D. 


And  here  the  reader  may  obferve,  that  as  the  Latin  is  the  moft 
antient  diale<51:  of  the  Greek,  many  of  the  words  of  the  Shanfcrir 
have  a  greater  refemblance  to  the  Latin  than  to  the  Gre^k.  Thus, 
as  I  have  obferved  before,  the  word  nafa^  denoting  a  nofc^  is  plain- 
ly Latin,  but  entirely  different  from  the  Greek  word  cxprefling  that 
feature  of  the  face,  which  is  giv.  Apa^  which  in  Slianfcrit  figniiies 
ivatefy  has  the  greateft  refemblance  to  the  Latin  word  aqua^  but 
none  at  all  to  the  Greek  word  'y^a»o;  and  here  is  another  word  which 
mult  have  been  oiiginally  In  all  languages.  And  I  fliall  only  men- 
tion two  words  more,  veedbava^  in  Shaufcrit,  which  is  the  vidua  of 
the  Latins,  but  is  quite  different  from  the  Greek  word  j^>7f  a ;  and 
laka,  which  is  the  Shanfcrit  word  for  locus.y  but  is  quite  different 
from  the  Greek  word  ror.f. 

In  thefe  words  the  reader  will  obferve,  that  there  is  a  good  deal 
of  difference  in  the  found  betwixt  the  Greek  and  Latin  words  and 
the  Shanfcrit:  But'  there  is  nothing  in  language  fo  changeable  as  the 
pronounciation  of  it,  even  in  the  fame  nation.  But,  when  the  lan- 
guage goes  to  a  different  nation,  efpecially  to  one  at  fuch  a  diftancc 
as  India  is  from  Egypt,  when  there  mull  be  an  intercourfe  betwixt 
the  two  nations,  fuch  as  might  preferve,  in  fome  degree,  the  original 
pronunciation  of  the  language,  the  change  mull  be  very  great. 

To  the  words  which  Mr  Y/ilklns  has  given  me,  I  will  add  fome 
that  are  preferved  in  Diodorus  Siculus,  and  Arrian's  Indica:  And,. 
as  they  are  the  names  of  places  and  perfons  in  India,  when  Alexan- 
der was  there,  they  are  undoubtedly  very  antient  words  of  the  Shan- 
fcrit, as  the  names  of  perfons  and  places  arc  the  moft  antient  words 
in  all  languages ;  they  have,  therefore,  more  of  the  Greek  found, 

in 


Chap.  IV.        ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  329 

in  them,  than  the  words  vfliicii  Mr  Wilklns  has  furniihed  me,  be- 
ing of  an  older  dlaledl  of  the  Shanfcrit,  as  we  may  fuppofe-,  tlian 
thofe  of  Mr  Wilkins,  which  are  from  the  Shanfcrit  language  rs  ir  is 
at  prefent.  The  words  arcj  Ta|.'?.a,  the  name  of  a  Town  in  ■n'iii*  ; 
TKa.vKov;xcci,  the  name  of  a  Nation  in  India f;  Ku^caoi  and  0;--jc  cjkoi, 
names  of  Nations  alfo  4;  ;  'To^:,  o/r^j,  the  name  of  a  River,  and  Tltu,- 
'r?ci[/,xy  the  name  of  a  City|j  ;  Mov(rix!x.voc,  the  niiTio  ot  a  King  in 
India  §;  Ox,vo^ax,ai,  the  name  of  a  Nation^;  '•A^ic«ri7?./a,  the  name 
of  a  Town  **  ;  'TaXcc;,  the  name  of  a  City  ;  n^i-;;,  the  name  of  a 
country  ■j"!";  and  Cioirxi,  the  name  of  tiie  peopie  oi  that  country  if:}:; 
Efj^lBoXtfji.^,  the  name  of  a  City  ■[  l| ;  'T  j  a  (T~tg  and  ''Ttpjca-ig,  names  of  l\.i- 
vers;  Toipavig,  Ta(po<r.^c,  &c.  Oilier  words  of  the  fame  kind  might 
no  doubt  be  found  ;  but  thefe,  1  think,  are  fufficient  to  fhow,  that 
the  names  of  places  in  India,  the  mod'  antieut  words  in  all  lan- 
guages, were  originally  Egyptian  words,  the  Greek  being,  as  I  have 
fhown  §§,  a  dialect  of  the  Egyptian  ;  which  language  being  lofl 
as  well  as  the  people,  its  affinity  with  the  Indian  can  be  no  other- 
wife  proved,  than  by  the  afHnity  of  the  Indian  with  the  Greek,  a 
dialed:  of  the  Egyptian  ftill  preferved.  In  fliort,  there  were,  in  an- 
tient  times,  fo  many  Greek  names  of  places  and  perfons  in  India, 
that  when  I  travel  with  Alexander  through  India,  as  his  expedition 
is  defcribed  by  Diodorus  Siculus  and  Arrian,  I  think  I  am  travelling- 
through  Greece. 

This  may  fuffice,  at  prefent,  to  fliow  the  fimilarity  both  of  the 
found  and  the  fenfe  of  the  words  of  the  two  languages,  though  I 
know  that  a  great  many  more  words  of  the  fame  kind  might  be  pro- 

VoL.  IV.  T  t        .  duced. 

*  Arrian,  p.  356.  f  Ibid.  p.  380.  J  Ibid.  p.  385. 

II  Ibid.  p.  386.  §  Ibid.  p.  439,  •[  DIod.  Siculus,  lib.  17.  cap.  98. 

•*  Ibid.  cap.  103.  ft  Arrian,  p.  103.  1|  Diod,  Siculus,  cap.  104. 

nil  Arrian,  lib.  4.  cap.  28.  p.  329. 

§§  Vol.  I.  of  Origin  of  Langu.nge,  book  3.  chap.  13.  2d  eduion. 


330  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.         Book  III. 

duced.  And  Mr  Wilklns  has  given  me  a  catalogue  of  about  70 
more ;  but,  as  I  expedt  he  will  ftill  give  me  more,  I  will  not  pub- 
lifh  the  catalogue  he  has  given  me  till  he  has  compleated  it,  which 
I  hope  he  will  do,  and  then  either  he  or  I  {hall  publifh  it.  In  the 
mean  time,  I  have  collected  from  fome  other  travellers  in  India, 
Shanfcrit  words  that  are  clearly  Greek,  fuch  as  gonla  the  Shanfcrit 
word  for  an  angle ^  kentra  for  a  centre ;  and  they  ufe  the  word  hora 
in  the  fame  fenfe  that  it  is  ufed  in  Latin. 

I  come  now  to  fpeak  of  the  refemblance  betwixt  the  two  lan- 
guages, in  what  I  think  of  greater  confequence  for  proving  them  to 
have  been  originally  the  fame  language ;  I  mean  the  art  by  which 
they  are  formed.  The  art  of  language,  as  I  have  obferved,  confifts 
of  three  things,  Compofition,  Derivation,  and  Flection,  by  which 
the  words  of  language  are  fo  connedied  together,  both  in  found  and 
fenfe,  that  words,  though  of  the  greateft  number,  amounting,  as  it 
is  faid  the  words  in  Latin  do,  to  five  millions,  may  notwithftanding 
be  comprehended  in  the  memory,  and  readily  applied  to  ufe.  Now, 
if  it  can  be  {hown,  that  in  thefe  three  great  arts,  there  is  a  refem- 
blance betwixt  the  Shanfcrit  and  Greek,  I  think  there  is  an  end  of 
the  queftion. 

And,  fitj}^  as  to  Compofition,  Mr  Wllkins  has  ihown  me,  as  I 
have  obferved,  that,  in  denoting  numbers,  they  compound  the  word 
expreffing  im'its  with  the  word  expreffing  ten.  And  he  told  me  of 
another  compofition,  of  the  word  denoting  the  number  three  with 
the  word  denoting  a  foot ;  for,  fays  he,  obferving  one  day  a  three- 
footed  ftool  in  a  Pagoda,  on  which  a  ftatue  was  placed,  I  afked 
the  Bramin  who  was  with  me,  what  the  name  of  it  was  in  Shanf- 
crit, and  he  told  me  it  was  tripada.  And  in  like  manner  they 
compound  the  word  da?ita,  fignifying  a  tooth,  with  the  fame  num- 
ber three,  and  fay  tr'idanta,  that  is  a  trident. 

But 


Chap.IV.        ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  331 

But  a  more  extraordinary  compofition  in  the  Shanfcrit,  than  any 
1  have  hitherto  mentioned,  and  which  is  the  fame  in  the  Greek, 
and  is  lb  remarkable  a  peculiarity  in  both  languages,  that  I  think 
it  is  impoflible  it  could  exift,  except  in  languages  that  were  ori- 
ginally the  fame.  The  compofition  I  mean  is  of  words  with  the 
letter  <?,  implying  a  negation  of  the  quality  expreffed  by  the  word, 
for  wiiich  rearon  it  is  called,  by  the  Greek  grammariai^s,  the  a  pri- 
vative, fuch  as  the  words,  a,xpo(.Toi,  a/iAa/S;jj,  and  hundreds  of  otliers. 
Now,  I  am  told,  not  only  by  Mr  Wilkins,  but  by  others  who  have 
applied  to  the  ftudy  of  the  Shanfcrit,  particularly  Mr  Haftiugs,  who 
is  not  only  a  good  Greek  fcholar,  but  learned  in  the  Shanfcrit.  ihat 
this  compofition  is  as  common  in  that  langu  ge  as  it  is  in  Greek. 

As  to   Derivation,  Mr  Wilkins  has  afforded  me  ac  particular  ex- 
amples of  this  branch  of  the  art  of  the  Shanfcrit  language,  but  as  it 
is  a  more  fimple  art  than  either  compofition   or  fiedtioa,  1   tnink   it 
muft  abound  in   it   as   much   as   1   fhall   fhow   it  does    in  a  more 
difficult    part    of  the  art,    i   mean    fiedion.     Mr    Haihed,    in   the 
paflage  I  have  quoted  from  him,  fays,  that  it  abounds  in  derivation 
as  well  as  in  compofition  and  fledlion;  and  if  it  were  not  fo,  it  could 
not  deferve  the  very  high  eulogium  which  Pons,  the  Jefuit,  has  be- 
ftowed   upon  it,  which  is,  that  it  is  fo  regularly  formed  from  a  few 
roots,  that  a  man,  who  has  made  himfelf  mafter  of  thofe  roots,  and 
of  the  rules  of  its  compofition,  derivation,  and  fledion,  mav,  from 
the   roots,  form   himfelf  a   language,  which   will  be  underllood  by 
thofe  who  are  learned  in  the  Shanfcrit,  though  it  may  differ  from 
the  language  in  common  ufe*\ 

I  come  now  to  fpeak  of  the  third  and  grcateft  art  of  language,  In 

my  opinion,  I  mean  fledlion  ;  by  which,  with  a  fmall  variation  of 

the  word,  genders  and  numbers  of  nouns  are  expreffed,  alfo  cafes 

are  formed,  by  which  the  various  relations,  that  the  noun  has  to  the 

T  t  2  other 

*  See  Vol.  26.  of  Lettres  Edifiantes  et  Curieufe?. 


332  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.         Book  III, 

other  words  in  the  fentence,  are  fignified  :  And  in  verbs,  the  time 
of  the  adlion  with  all  its  variety  of  prefent,  paft,  and  future,  and 
compounds  of  thefe  ;  alfo  perfons  and  numbers,  and  likewife  the 
difpofition  of  the  mind  of  the  fpeaker,  with  refpe£t  to  the  adion, 
affirming,  wiftiing,  or  commanding  it,  are  exprefled.  This  won- 
derful art,  Mr  Halhed  tells  us,  abounds  in  the  Shanfcrit ;  and,  as 
it  is  a  more  perfect  language  than  the  Greek,  I  imagine  it  excels 
the  Greek  in  this  greateft  art  of  language.  The  fame  Mr  Halhed 
tells  us,  that. the  Bengalefe  language,  which  I  hold  to  be  no  more 
than  a  corrupt  dialed  of  the  Shanfcrit,  has  a  clafs  of  verbs  that  are 
conjugated  in  the  fame  way,  as  the  verbs  in  y.i  in  Greek  are.  And 
Mr  Wilkins  has  given  me  four  perfons  of  the  prefent  tenfe  of  the 
fubilantive  verb  in  the  pure  Shanfcrit,  which  is  as  follows:  Afmee^  I 
am  ;  afcee^  tbon  art ;  ajlcc^  he  is  ;  fantee,  they  are  :  The  three  firft 
of  which  are  the  Greek  words  £  ft,;,  e,j,  sffrr,  and  the  laft  is  the.  funt 
of  the  Latins.  And  as  the  Shanfcrit  refembles  the  Greek  and  La- 
tin fo  much  in  the  fledion  of  their  verbs,  we  cannot,  I  think,  doubt 
of  its  refembling  thofe  languages  likewife  in  the  fledion  of  their 
nouns,  and  the  other  declinable  parts  of  fpeech. 

Thus,  I  think,  Mr  Wilkins  has  done  v>'hat  no  man  before  him 
has  done ;  having  proved  by  fads,  from  the  comparifon  of  the  two 
lan"-uap^es,  that  the  Greek  and  Shanfcrit  are  dialeds  of  the  fame  lan- 
'•'■uage,  the  antient  language  of  Egypt,  as  certainly,  I  think,  as  it  is 
proved  that  the  Englifh,  Swediih,  and  Norwegian,  are  dialeds  of 
the  Gothic;  and  vv'hich  language  of  Egypt  is  thus  proved  to  have 
been  carried  to  India,  as  it  is  certain  that  the  Indians  never  were  in 
Kgypt.  And  as  feveral  of  the  antient  authors  doubted  of  the  Egyp- 
tians ever  having  been  in  India,  and  the  learned  Strabo  pofitively 
denies  it,  I  think  the  learned  vvrorld  has  gn  at  obligations  to  Mr  Wil- 
kins for  having  eflablifhed  fo  curious  a  fad,  not  only  in  the  hif- 
tory  of  language,  but  in  the  hiilory  of  man. 

CHAP. 


Chap.V.  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  333 


C     H     A     P.         V. 

Tbe  Language  imported  by  Ojiris  into  India  is  Jiill  preferved  under 
the  name  of  the  Shanfcrit.  —  //  is  the  Sacred  Latiguage  of  India  ; 
tiow  under/load  only  by  the  Bratnins. — It  is  to  be  pref timed,  that  the 
Language  of  Egypt,  as  it  ivcnt  as  far  as  India,  went  alfo  to  the 
neighbouring  coiintiies. — But,  befidcs  prefumption,  there  is  proof 
from  facts. — 'This  furnified  by  M.  Gebelin  in  his  Monde  Primitif. 
— He,  and  Bullet  in  his  Celtic  Di£iionary,  maintain,  that  there  ivas 
a  primitive  Language,  from  -which  all  the  other  Languages  on  earth 
are  derived. — That  fuch  a  Language  did  exif,  M.  Gebelin  has 
proved,  by  comparing  the  fcveral  Languages  in  the  world  -with  one 
another,  —  the  European,  Afiatic,  and  American,  Languages  com- 
pared together  by  him.  —  America  peopled  from  the  north  eaji  parts 
of  Aft  a. — A  curious  fiB  related  of  afingular  cufom  of  the  Egyptians 
-which  the  Americans  have  adopted. — The  method  which  M.  Gebelin 
has  followed  in  makitig  this  comparifon,  very  proper,  by  fn  ding  out 
the  radical  words  in  the  fcveral  Languages. — Of  the  difference  of 
found  of  derivative  words  from  their  radicals  in  the  fame  Language: 
but  this  difference  much  greater  in  different  dialeEls  of  that  Language. 
— An  exa&  account,  digefed  into  tables,  given  by  Gebelin,  of  the 
changes  of  derivative  words  from  the  original. — The  change  of 
voivels  in  the  derivative  Languages,  not  fo  great  as  of  confonants: 
—  The  reafon  for  this. — But  confonants  alfo  changed. — This  ma.kes 
the  difference  fo  great  betwixt  the  original  and  derivative  Languages. 
— Of  the  monofyllables  of  the  Chinefe  language; — many  of  thetn  to 
be  found  in  other  Languages,  and  particularly  in  the  Coptic. — Thus 
proved,  that  there  was  a  time  zvhen  there  was  only  one  Language  on  the 

face 


334  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  Book  III. 

face  of  the  earth. — The  author^  before  he  read  M.  Gebelin,  -was  of  a- 
itother  opinion. — What  that  Language  was  M.  Gebelin  has  not  deter- 
mined.— All  the  Languages  of  Europe,  he  fays,  are  derived  from  the 
Celtic. — But  the  Celts  did  not  invent  their  La?iguage,  nor  the  Goths 
theirs, — T'he  Gothic  a  more  perfeSl  Language  in  fome  refpeSl:  than  the 
Latin. — Any  nation  fpeaking  a  Language  of  art,  only  proves  that 
the  original  Language  came  to  them   in  greater  perfcBion   than   to 
other  nations. — "The  refcmblance  betwixt  the  Celtic  and  other  Lan- 
guages, 710  proof  that  thefe  Languages  are  derived  from  the  Celtic. 
— The  Greek  Language  was  certainly  not  derived  from  the  Celtic,  but 
came  diredly  from  Egypt. — If  the  Greeks  did  not  invent  their  Lan- 
guage, how  can  we  fuppofe  that  the  Celts  or  Goths  did. — The  pro- 
grefs  of  the  formation  of  the  Language  of  art,  in  Egypt,  mii/l  have 
begun  with  words  of  one  fyllable. — ///  that  ivay  the  Chinefe  mono- 
fyllabic  Language  is  to  be  accounted  for. — Thefe  monofyllabical  'words 
•were  the  roots  of  the  primitive  Language. — A  great  queftion.  By 
ivhat  rule,  or   "whether  by  any  rule,  thefe  roots   ivere  formed, — 
The  letters,  according  to  M.  Gebelin,  are  to  be  confidered  as  a  kind 
of  roots. — The  Author  s  opinion  in  this  matter:  — Nothing,  even  a- 
mong  men,  done  without  fome   reofon. — Many  words  formed  from 
the  found, — Even  ideas  may  be  expreffed  by  a  found,  which  is  fup- 
pofcd  to  have  fome  analogy  to  them. — The  Shanfcrit,  according  to  Fa- 
ther Pons,  a  mojl  ivonderful  piece  of  art  andfcience, — It  analyfes  the 
particuhr  ideas,  exprejfed  by  the  ivords,  into  the  general  ideas  from 
which  they  arife.— Thefe  expreffed  by  monofyllables,  ivhich  are  the  roots 
of  the  Language. — Monofyllables  being  the  fimplefl  ivords  are  theft- 
tejl  for  derivation  and  Compofition. — From  thefe  roots,  in  long  or- 
der and  with  great  variety,  are  deduced,  according  to  fxed  and 
determinate  rules,  the  words  of  the  Shanfa-it,  exprefing  the  particu- 
lar ideas,  f idling  under  the  general  ideas  denoted  by  the  roots. — Ex- 
amples of  this  given  by  Pons  the  Jefuit;—a  knowledge  of  the  roots,  and 
of  the  Grammar  of  the  Language,  together  with  the  rules  of  deri- 
vation 


Chap.V.         ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS. 


335 


vaiion  and  compofiiion,  lulll  enable  a  perfon  to  form  a  Latiguage 
of  his  onion  ^  which  -will  be  underflood  by  thofe  who  hiow  the  art  by 
which  the  Language  is  formed. — 'The  Jefiiit  Pons' s  account^  of  this 
Language,  confirmed  by  Mr  Wilkins. — This  Language  the  work  of 
philofophers, — //  may  he  compared  to  the  Categories  of  Jrchytas, — 
The  Greek  and  Latin,  though  not  fo  pcrfeEt  as  the  Shanfcrit,  'won- 
derful "works  of  art, — conneSling  by  incans   of  Derivation,   Compo- 
fition,  and  Fle&ion,  fame  millions  of  %vords.- — FleBion  the  greatefl 
of  thefe. — Its  wonderfid  effcEls  in  nouns  and  verbs. — ///   the   Greek 
verb  upwards  of  a  thoufand  variations. — M.  Gebelin,  though  learn- 
ed in  languages,  knc-w  fo  little  of  the  philofophy  of  Language,  as  to 
maintain  that  men  fpeak  naturally,  and  have  from  nature  the  ideas 
they  exprefs  by  the  "words.  —  Jlccording  to  him,  t'wo  perfons  meeting, 
"who  had  learned  no  Language,  voould  hold  commu7iication  together  by 
fpeech,  and  undcrfand  one  another. — This  the  primitive  Language 
of  Gebelin: — According  to  him,  all  other  arts,  as  -well  as  Lajtguage^ 
natural  to  men ;  and  they  have  from  the  beginning  the  knowledge-' of 
aflronomy,  and  of  all  the  arts  of  life. — No  natural  fiate  according  to 
Gebelin,  the  Savages,  at  prefent  to  be  found,  being  men  degenerated.  — 
The  Author  s  fyf  em,  from  antient  books,  very  different  from  Gebelin  s; 
— though  an  admirer  of  Greek  learning,  and  a  reader  of  many  books 
in  that  Language,  M.  Gebelin  has  not  read  their  philofophers^  who 
would  have  taught  him  the  progrefs  of  man  from  capacity  to  energy.— 
Without  Greek  philofophy,  no  natural  talents  or  application  will  avail. 
—  Conlradi&ions  in  Gebclni  sfyfem; — it  is  refuted  by  the  fact,  of  deaf 
perfons  being  likexvife  dumb,  and  being  taught  to  fpeak  with  great 
labour  and  much   difficulty. — Even  the  mq/l  barbarous  Language  a 
work  of  art,  if  the  words  exprefs  all  the  ideas  of  the  fpeaker,  and 
are  conne£led  together. — Men,  in  the  natural  fate,  without  the  ufe 
^'f  IP'^^'^^^->  ^>"^  "^  ^-^^  '^^fi  °f  ^'""^^  "i^'^- — They  could  not  teach  thcm- 
f elves : — But  the  Dcemon  Kings  of  Egypt,  who  invented  Language, 
mufljirll  have  taught  themfelves,  and  then  others. -Progrefs  of  the  art 

even 


536  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.         Book  III. 

even  in  Egypt. — T'be  firjl  -words  there  monofyllahles. — The  Lan- 
guage in  that  flat  e  went  to  China: — When  a  Language  of  "words  of 
feveral  fyllables  ivas  invented^  thefe  nionofyllables  -were  made  the 
roots  of  the  Language. — In  this  -way  the  Sbanfcrit  was  formed. — 
But  the  Chinefe  have  preferved  the  Language^  in  nionofyllables^  as 
they  got  it. — The  great  imterfeclion  of  that  Language. — The  quef- 
tion.  In  what  country  Gebelins  primitive  Language  -was  invented? 
— It  could  be  no  "where  but  in  Egypt,  "where  the  Dt^emon  Kings 
reigned. — The  Jews  had  no  I  anguage  revealed  to  them, — no  coun- 
try in  fuch  a  fate  of  civility,  "when  Ofiris  went  to  India,  that  they 
could  have  invented  the  mofl  barbarous  Language.  —  Of  the  way 
the  Egyptian  Language  was  communicated  to  other  nations,  and 
how  it  came  to  be  fo  barbarous  as  it  was  fpoken  by  fome  nations. — 
//  "Was  conveyed  to  India  by  Ofiris,  and  by  him  depofited  in  the 
hands  of  the  Bramins,  who  have  preferved  it  with  little  or  no  cor- 
ruption, but  have  not  improved  it. — It  alfo  "went  to  Greece,  but  not  in 

fo  great  purity  as  to  India, — ^vas  preferved  there  by  Homer  and  the 
other  poets.  —  Next  to  the  Greek  Language,  it  is  in  the  great ef  pu- 
rity in  the  Celtic. — This  proved  by  its  refemblance  to  the  Latin, — 
and  by  the  name  o/'Shanfcrit  being  a  Celtic  ivord. — Surprifng  that 
in  fome  of  the  mof  barbarous  Languages,  a  good  deal  of  the  art  of  the 
antient  EgyptianLanguage  fhould  be  preferved, — as  in  the  Gothic ; — 
even  in  the  Language  of  Greenland  there  is  a  dual  number. — Ho-w 

fo  many  Languages ,  differing  fo  much  from  one  another, fhould  be  all 
derived  from  one  primitive  Language,  accounted  for. — The  variety 
made  in  the  two  Egyptian  alphabets  fill  more  "wonderful. — Objec- 
tion anfwered,  that  it  was  not  confifant  with  the  "wifdom  and good- 
nefs  of  God,  to  confine  the  invention  of  Language  to  one  country. — 
That  country  fifficient  for  the  furpcfe. — The  variety  of  the  fyfem 
of  nature  did  not  admit  that  many  countries  ffould  be  fo  "well  fitted 

for  that  purpofe. — Objection,  that  all  the  people  en  earth  have  not 
learned  the  ufe  offpeech,  particularly  the  Orang  Outangs. — But  they 

may 


Chap.  V.         ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  337 

may  jTill  learn  it,  as  fome  "wild  people  in  Ethiopia   have  done.—^ 

IN  the  preceding  chapter  I  think  I  have  proved,  both  by  argu- 
ments and  fadts,  that  Ofiris  carried  with  him  to  India,  among 
other  arts,  the  art  of  language,  which,  as  well  as  the  polity  he  intro- 
duced into  that  country,  is  ftill  preferved,  under  the  name  of  the 
Shanfcrit: — That  it  is  now  their  facred  language,  in  which  their  moft 
antient  religious  books  are  written,  and  is  underftood  only  by  the 
Bramins,  that  is,  the  priefts  of  India,  though  it  appears  to  have  been 
once  the  general  language  of  the  country; — and  that  this  language 
could  be  no  other  than  the  language  of  antient  Egypt. 

Thus  I  think  I  have  proved,  that  Egypt  was  not  only  the  parent 
country  of  many  other  arts  and  of  fciences,  but  alfo  of  that  firft  art 
among  men,  and  the  foundation  of  all^ther  arts  and  fciences,  I  mean 
the  art  of  language  ;  at  lead  that  it  was  fo  with  refpedl  to  India  :  And 
if  it  travelled  as  far  as  India,  I  think  it  may  be  prefumed  that  it 
went  to  the  neighbouring  countries  in  Africa,  Afia,  and  Europe. 
But,  in  the  hiftory  I  am  giving  of  the  origin  of  arts  and  fciences, 
I  would  not  have  a  matter  of  fuch  importance  in  that  hiftory, 
as  the  origin  of  an  art,  which,  as  I  have  faid,  is  the  parent 
of  all  others,  reft  upon  mere  prefumption  and  probability,  and 
therefore  I  will  try  to  prove  by  flids,  that  language  came  from 
Egypt  to  other  countries,  as  well  as  to  India.  But  before  this  can 
be  done,  it  muft  be  firft  proved  that  there  is,  or  was,  at  fome  time 
or  another,  one  original  language,  of  which  all  the  languages  on 
earth  are  derivatives.  But  this  is  a  fubjedl  where  Mr  Wilkins  can 
give  me  no  affiftance,  which  I  regret  very  much.  I  muft  therefore 
hajj^  Tecourfe  to  a  I  rench  author,  M.  Gcbclin^  who  has  written  a 
book  entitled  Monde  Primitif^  in  nine  volumes  in  quarto,  in  which 

Vol.  IV.  U  u  he 


338  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.        Book  III. 

he  has  endeavoured  to  prove,  that  all  the  languages   now  in   the 
world  are  derived  from  one  language,   which  he  calls  the  primitive 
language  :  For  that  there  is  or  was  fuch  a  language,  he  lays  down  as 
a  principle,  in  which  he  fays  many  learned  men  agree  with  him;  and 
there  is  one  author,very learned  in  language,  M.  Bullet,  who,  in  his  Cel- 
tic Didionary,  has  made  a  colledion  of  many  words  from  feveral  lan- 
guages that  he  mentions,  which  he  fays  are  w^ords  of  this  common  lan- 
guage.   But  M.  Gebelin  has  taken  a  much  wider  range,  and  has  gone 
through  not  only  all  the  languages  of  the  old  world,  but  even  thofe 
of  the  new ;   and  has  endeavoured  to  fhew,  that  they  have  fuch  re- 
femblances,  and  are  fo  connected  with  one  another,   that   they  muft 
be  all  derived  from  one  original,  or  primitive  language.     But  where 
this  original  language  was  inver.ted,  or  where  it  now  is  or  ever  was, 
neither  he  nor  M.  Bullet  has  faid.      But  that  is   not  the  queftion  at 
prefent,  which  is  only  w-hether  fuch  an  original  language   exifls,   or 
ever  did  exift  in  any  country.    Now  this  M.  Gebelin  has  endeavour- 
ed'to  prove,  by  comparing  together  all  the  feveral  languages  I  have 
mentioned,  and  which,  indeed,  are  all  the  languages  of  the  world. 
And  I  think  he  proceeds  upon  a  principle  which  cannot  be  difputed, 
that  languages,  which  refemble  one  another,   not   only  in  the  found 
of  the  words,  but  in  the  fenfe  of  them,  muft  be  all  derived  from  one 
common  language  :  for  otherwife  it  is  impoffible  to  account  for  fuch  a 
conformity.     This  work,  in  which  he  compares  with  one  another  all 
the  languages,  antient  or  modern,  that  are  known,  is  the  greateft 
work  upon  language  that  ever  was  undertaken  ;  and,  in  executing  it, 
he  lliews,  I  think,  a  wonderful  knowledge  of  many  languages,  and 
alfo  very  good  judgment  in  comparing  them  together.     Tiie  reader, 
therefore,  I  hope,  will  think  himfelf  obliged  to  me,  if  I  give  him 
a  fummary  view  of  it. 

He  not  only  examines  the  languages  that  are  now  fpoken  in  Eu- 

rope. 


Chap.  V.         ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  339 

rope,  or  that  were  formerly  fpokea,  fuch  as  the  Greek,  Latin,  Celtic, 
Gothic,  and  their  feveral  dialers ;  but  the  Afiatic  languages,  fuch 
as  the  Hebrew,  Arabic,  Phoenician,  and  Chaldean,  aud  alfo  the  Ma- 
layfe  language,  and  that  fpoken  in  the  ifland  of  Madagafcar.  And 
he  has  gone  to  the  eaft  as  far  as  China  ;  and  he  might  have  gone 
farther  ftill,  even  to  Japan,  betwixt  the  language  of  which  and  the 
Teutonic,  a  late  German  writer  has  difcovered  a  great  refemblance. 
And  he  has  not  confined  himfelf  to  the  old  world,  but  has  crofled 
the  Atlantic,  and  gone,  as  I  have  faid,  to  the  weft,  and  examined 
the  feveral  languages  fpoken  in  the  different  provinces  of  North  and 
South  America,  and  alfo  in  the  illands  of  the  South  Sea  ^. 

As  to  America,  I  am  convinced  that  It  was  peopled  from  the 
north-eaft  parts  of  Afia,  from  which  it  is  at  prefent  divided  by  a 
very  narrow  fea,  full  of  fmall  illands,  which  look  like  ftepping- 
ftones  between  the  two  continents.  And  I  think  there  is  realon  to 
believe  that  there  was  a  time  when  they  were  not  divided  at  all  by 
any  fea :  For  there  is  a  French  author,  M.  le  Page  du  Pratz,  whom 
I  have  mentioned  elfewhere  f ,  who  travelled  a  good  deal  in  North 
America,  and  in  his  travels  met  v»'ith  an  Indian,  who  had  travelled 
in  that  countiy  much  more  than  he,  and  who  told  him  that  he  had 
met  with  an  old  Indian  who,  in  his  youth,  had  known  an  old 
man  that  had  feen  the  two  continents  joined  if  :  So  that  the 
fea  appears  to  have  made  an  irruption  there,  and  to  have  feparated 
the  tvv-o  continents,  in  the  fame  manner  as  it  feparated  Sicily 
from  Italy,  of  which  the  name  of  the  town  in  Italy,  built  upon 
the  ftrait,  was  a  memorial  ;  for  It  was  called  Reggiuin^  a  word 
which  in  Greek,  denotes  biirjling  or  breaking,  I  think  It  is  proba- 
ble that  Britain  was  feparated  from   France  In  the  fame   manner ; 

U  u  2  and 

*  Vol.  8th,  p   489.  and  following.  f  Vol.  3.  of  this  -work,  p.  53. 

t  P.  303.  of  the  Hiftory  of  LouiCuna,  by  M.  le  Page  du  Pratz. 


J40  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.        Book  III 

and  undoubtedly  many  fuch  changes  have  happened  on  this  earth, 
of  land  into  water,  and  alfo  of  water  into  land  *. 

The  Afiatics,  who  peopled  America  from  the  north-eaft  parts,  as  I 
have  faid  of  Afia,  would  undoubtedly  carry  their  language  with  them, 
and  did  fo,  as  it  appears,  to  the  mod  northerly  parts  of  America : 
For  it  is   now  difcovered,  that  there  is  a  very  great  affinity  betwixt 
the  language  of  the   Kamfchatkans,   who  inhabit  thofe  north-eaft 
parts  of  Afia,  and  the  language  of  the  Efquimeaux  ;   and   there   is 
alfo   a  great  refemblance  in   their  cuftoms  and  manners,  and  like- 
wife  in  their  faces  and  perfons.     The   language,  thus   brought  into 
America,  muft,  according  to  my  hypothefis,  have  come  originally 
from  Egypt :    And  with  it  there  is  come  into  North  America  a  very 
Angular  cuftom  of  the  Egyptians,  as  it  is  remarked  by  Herodotus, 
and   which   was   peculiar  to  them  ;  I  mean  the  cuftom  of  the  men 
making  water  fitting,  and  the  women  ftanding.     This  is  the  univer- 
fal  cuftom  among  the  North  American  Indians,  as  Mr  Adair,  in  his 
hiftpry  of  the  American  Indians,  has  told  usf .     And  he  has  told  us 
in  the  fame  place,  that  he  was  informed  that  it  was  alfo  the  cuftom  in 
Mexico.     Now  this  author  was  longer  in   America  than   I   believe 
any  European  ever  was,  who  returned  to  Europe  ;  for  he  was  forty 
years  in  that  country;  and,  as  he  was  a  trader  with  the  Indians,  was 
very  much  among  them,  not  only  in  the  way  of  bufinefs,  but  often 
in  their  parties  of  pleafure,  and  ibmetimes  in  their  campaigns.     He 
therefore  had   an   opportunity  of  being  very  well  informed  of  the 
fadts  which  he  relates,  efpecially  a  fad  of  this  kind  falling  under 

common 

*  See,  upon  this  fubjeiTt,  Strabo,  Lib.  i.  towards  the  middle;  whefe  there  is  a  very 
curious  account  given  of  the  feveral  changes  that  have  happened  in  different  countries, 
by  Inundations  and  Earthquakes. — See  alfo  upon  the  fame  fubjcft,  Sheringhame,  De 
Ariglonim  Origine. 

t  Page  216. 


Chap.  V.         ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  341 

common  obfervation.  Nor  can  we  fufpedl  him  of  any  intention  to 
impofe  upon  the  reader  with  refpeil  to  this  fa£t.  If  indeed  he  had 
maintained  that  the  Indians  of  North  America  were  defcended  of 
the  Egyptians,  and  came  from  that  country,  he  might  be  fuppofed 
to  have  feigned  this  fa<fl,  in  order  to  fupport  his  fyftem,  if  he  had 
known,  what  1  do  not  beUeve  he  did,  that  this  was  a  pecuhar  cuftom 
of  the  Egyptians.  But  his  hypothefis,  which  he  has  endeavoured 
to  maintain  by  many  arguments,  is,  that  thefe  Indians  were  a  colo- 
ny of  Jews,  which  came  off  about  the  time  that  their  city  v/as  ta- 
ken by  Nebuchadnezar,  and  themfelves  tranfpoited  to  Babylon. 
Now,  among  the  Jews,  it  is  well  known  that  the  men  pifTed  as  we 
do  in  Europe ;  and  accordingly,  pijfttig  againjl  the  ivally  is,  in  the 
language  of  the  Old  Teflament,  made  a  charafteriftical  mark  of  the 
male  fex. 

This  circumflance  may  appear  trifling  to  many  of  my  readers' ; 
but  I  think  it  tends  not  a  little  to  fupport  my  fyftem  of  the  lan- 
guages of  thefe  Indians  in  North  America  being  derived  from  Egypt, 
as  well  as  every  other  language  :  For  it  proves,  that  the  men, 
who  from  Kamfchatka  peopled  America,  muft  have  had  fome  com- 
munication with  the  Egyptians,  not  immediately,  I  believe,  but  by 
the  intercourfe  of  other  nations.  And  when  they  adopted  this  An- 
gular cuftom  of  the  Egyptians,  I  muft  fuppofe  that  they  alfo  learned 
their  language. 

In  making  this  wonderful  inveftigation,  M.  Gebelin  has  followed, 
I  think,  a  very  proper  method  :  For  he  has  endeavoured  to  difcover 
the  radical  words  in  the  feveral  languages  he  examines ;  which  he 
fuppofes,  very  juftly,  muft  have  been  words  of  the  primitive  lan- 
guage. Nor  indeed  could  the  refemblance  betwixt  fo  many  diffe- 
rent languages  have  otherwife  been  clearly  made  out ;  for  we 
know,  that  derivative  and  compounded  words  differ  very  much  in 

found 


342  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.        Book  III. 

found  from  the  original ;  and  very  often  the  analogy  of  the  fenfe  is 
net  very  evident.  For  this  purpofe  our  author  has  compiled  feveral 
etymological  didionaries,  particularly  a  French  one,  a  Latin,  and  a 
Greek,  wherein  he  has  ranged  the  words  according  to  their  feveral 
families^  as  he  calls  them.  And  though  fome  of  his  etymologies 
may  be  conjedural  and  fanciful,  yet,  upon  the  whole,  he  has  made 
fuch  a  fyftem  of  thefe  languages  as  never  was  made  before  ;  for  it 
is  only  by  reducing  the  words  of  a  language  to  a  few  roots,  from 
which  all  the  other  words  proceed,  that  we  can  make  a  fyftem  of  any 
language.  And  it  is  to  be  obferved,  that  in  the  etymological  didi- 
onaries  of  the  languages  I  have  mentioned,  he  has  found  almoft  all 
the  roots  in  other  European  languages,  fuch  as  the  Celtic,  or  in  the 
Oriental  languages,  fuch  as  the  Hebrew  and  Arabic  ;  for  as  all  thofe 
languages,  of  which  he  has  given  us  etymological  didionaries,  are 
derived  from  the  other  languages  I  have  mentioned,  it  is  of  necet- 
fity  that  a  great  part  of  the  roots  fhould  be  found  in  thefe  other 
languages.  Thefe,  therefore,  muft  be  the  parent  languages  of  the 
Greek,  Latin,  and  French.  But  ftill  the  difficulty  recurs,  From 
whence  were  the  Celtic,  Hebrew,  and  Arabic  derived  ?  and  M.  Ge- 
belin  anfwers,  From  his  Primitive  Language^  to  which,  as  I  have  ob- 
ferved, he  has  not  affigned  a  country;  but  this  defed,  I  hope,  I  have 
fupplied,  and  have  proved  that  country  to  have  been  Egypt. 

Another  thing  to  be  obfer\'ed  of  thofe  derivative  languages,  is, 
that  the  words  in  them,  derived  from  the  original  language,  muft  be 
much  altered  from  their  roots  in  the  found.  Even  in  words  deriv- 
ed from  the  roots  of  the  fame  language,  we  obferve  a  great  change 
in  the  found,  which  is  very  obfervable  in  the  Greek  and  Latin  de- 
rivatives, in  which  the  difference  is  fometimes  fo  great,  that  it  re- 
quires a  great  deal  of  knowledge  of  etymology  to  find  out  the  root. 
But  when  the  words  are  derived  from  another  language,  the  change 
muft  be  very  much  greater  j  for  when  a  language  is  brought  from 

another 


Chap.  V.        ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  343 

another  nation,  living,  as  it  often  happens,  in  a  difFerent  climate, 
and  therefore  with  organs  of  pronunciation  different,  and  fo  pro- 
nouncing the  fame  letters  differently,  the  change  in  the  language 
muft  be  very  great. 

Of  thefe  changes  of  words  brought  from  other  languages,  or  of 
derivatives  in  the  fame  language  from  their  radicals,  he  has  given 
us,  in  his  third  volume  *,  fix  tables,  containing  the  feveral  changes 
of  vowels  into  vowels,  or  vowels  into  confonants,  and  of  additions 
made  to  the  fame  word,  or  diminutions  of  it ;  and  in  thefe  tables 
he  has  taken  his  examples  both  from  the  languages  of  Europe,  an- 
tient  and  modern,  and  from  the  Oriental  languages.  As  to  vowels, 
he  has  obferved,  very  properly  "f,  that  the  vowels  change  more  eafi- 
ly  into  one  another  than  the  confonants.  And  indeed  if  we  confi- 
der,  that  the  vowels,  as  I  have  obferved  in  another  place  J,  are  no- 
thing more  than  a  certain  modification  of  the  breath,  by  which  the 
confonants  are  pronounced,  it  is  no  wonder  that  the  vowels  fhould 
be  changed  into  one  another  ;  or,  in  other  words,  that  the  confo- 
nants fhould  be  pronounced  by  a  different  modification  of  the 
breath  :  Whereas  the  confonants  articulate  the  vowels,  and  make 
language  of  them,  which,  without  them,  would  be  nothing  elfe  but 
vocal  founds.  The  changes,  therefore,  of  confonants  into  one  an- 
other, make  a  much  greater  difference  in  the  language,  than  the 
changes  of  vowels,  though  the  difference  be  not  fo  great  when  con- 
fonants of  the  fame  organ  are  changed  into  one  another,  as  B  into 
P,  or  M  or  F  into  V,  which  are  all  labial  confonants :  And  according- 
ly, in  the  different  dialects  of  the  fame  language,  they  are  frequent- 
ly ufed  one  for  the  other,  of  which  our  author  gives  many  exam- 
ples.    And  when  to  thefe  changes,  the  other  changes  he  mentions 

are 

*  P.  152,  and  following.  •;■  Ibid.  p.  iji- 

i  P.  III.  of  this  vol. 


3/K  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.         Book  III. 

are  added,  It  is  no  wonder  that  the  refemblance  of  different  lan- 
guages to  one  another,  and  fpoken  by  people  at  fuch  a  diftance  from 
one  another,  as  the  people  of  Europe  are  from  thofe  of  Afia  and 
America,  fhould  be  fo  difficult  to  be  difcovered.  The  Chinefe  lan- 
o-uat'e  is  fo  different  from  all  other  languages  we  know,  that  one 
ihould  think  it  was  impoffible  to  find  any  refemblance  betwixt  it 
and  thofe  other  languages.  But  M.  Gebelin  has  found  out  a  re- 
femblance that  is  really  wonderful  betwixt  their  monofyllables,  and 
the  languages  of  Europe  and  Afia  *.  And  it  is  the  more  wonder- 
ful, that  their  monofyllables  are  very  different  from  the  fyllables  in 
thofe  other  languages  :  For  they  never  terminate  their  fyllables  with 
any  confonants  except  the  nafal  confonants  M  and  N  ;  and  fome 
confonants  they  have  no  ufe  of  at  all ; — So  that  I  think  the  example 
of  the  Chinefe  language  ferves  to  fupport  our  author's  fyftem  more 
than  that  of  any  other  language.  And  there  is  an  obfervation  made 
by  M.  de  Guignes,  in  the  treatife  he  has  written,  to  prove  that  the 
Chinefe  were  originally  a  colony  from  Egypt,  which  is  not  taken 
notice  of  by  our  author,  but  which  tends  very  much  to  fupport  my 
fyflem  of  the  Egyptian  language  being  the  original  primitive  Ian- 
language,  more  than  the  examples  from  any  other  language  ;  and  it 
is  this,  that  the  language  of  the  Copts,  which  is  the  only  remains  to 
be  found  in  Egypt  of  the  antient  language  of  that  country,  there  are 
a  great  many  Chinefe  monofyllables  to  be  found. 

And  thus,  T  think,  our  author  has  proved  by  fads,  what  from 
theory  I  have  been  of  a  great  while  difpofed  to  believe,  that  origi- 
nally there  was  but  one  language  upon  earth.  But  my  knowledge 
of  different  languages  was  not  fo  great  as  to  enable  me  to  prove  it 
by  fafts  ;  and  accordingly  I  have  concluded  the  firfl  volume  of  the 
Origin  of  Language,  with  giving  my  opinion,  that  all   languages 

were 

•  Vol.  3.  p.  367. 


Chap.V.  ANTIENT    METAPHYSICS.  345^ 

were  not  derived  from  one  language,  invented  in  one  country; 
though  I  had  then  diicovered,  that  all  the  languages  of  Euiope,  an- 
tient  and  modern,  and  the  languages  fpoken  in  the  weftern  parts  of 
Aha,  and  in  a  part  of  Africa,  were  all  oi-iginallv  the  fame  language, 
and  which  was  the  antient  language  of  Egypt*.  But  then  I  did 
not  know  that  this  antient  language  was  ftill  preferved  in  India,  and 
that  the  Greek  was  a  dialed  of  it,  though  1  thought  there  was  good 
reaibu  to  believe  that  the  Greeks  had  got  from  Egypt  their  language 
as  well  as  their  other  arts.  Neither  did  I  know  any  thing  of  the 
Chinefe  language,  or  that  it  was  poffible  to  make  out  any  connec- 
tion betwixt  it  and  the  languages  of  Europe,  or  the  oriental  lan- 
guages, fuch  as  the  Hebrew  and  Greek.  And  as  to  the  languages 
of  the  new  world,  or  the  iflands  lately  difcovered  in  the  South  Sea, 
I  did  not  think  it  was  pollible  that  there  could  be  any  refemblance 
betwixt  them  and  the  languages  of  Europe,  or  thofe  of  the  weftern 
parts  of  Aha.  But  Mr  Gebelin  has  now  difcovered  this  connec- 
tion. And  as  to  languages  fo  barbarous  as  the  hilling  language  of 
Troglodytes  in  Abyffinia  ;  or  the  muttering  jargon  of  thofe  favao-es, 
mentioned  by  Condamine,  on  the  banks  of  the  river  Amazons,  fpo- 
ken, as  he  fays,  by  drawing  in  the  breath  ;  or  the  language  of  the 
Hottentots,  and  the  people  lately  difcovered  by  a  French  traveller 
to  the  weft  of  Mew  Mexico,  who  fupply  the  defeds  of  their  articu- 
lation by  fmacks; — I  take  the  cafe  to  have  been,  as  I  have  elfewhere 
mentioned  t,  that  they  had  had  but  very  little  intercourfe  with  the 
people  who  fpoke  the  original  language,  only  enough  to  form  the 
idea  of  articulation,  and  to  learn,  perhaps,  fome  few  words  of  it. 
It  is  therefore  to  M.  Gebelin  that  I  owe  this  great  difcovery  in  the 
hiftory  of  man  ;  and  I  am  now  fully  convinced  of  the  truth  of 
what  Mofes  has  told  us,  that  time  was  when  there  was  only  one 
language  and  one  fpeech  upon  the  earth  ;  which  I  was  difpofed  to 
Vol.  IV.  X  x  believe 

*  See  the  three  laft  chapters  of  vol.  ift,  of  Origin  of  Language,  fecond  edit, 
t  Vol,  I.  p.  66;^.  lecond  edition. 


346  ANTIENT   METAPHYSICS.        Book  III. 

believe  upon  the  authority  of  Mofes,  but  could  not  reconcile  it  with 
fadts,  thinking  that  it  applied  only  to  the  languages  in  the  weftern 
parts  of  Afia. 

But  our  author  has  not  explicitly  told  us  what  this  primitive  uni- 
verfal  language  is,  where  it  was  invented,  where  it  is  to  be  found, 
or  whether  it  now  exifts.  He  has  told  us,  indeed,  that  the  Greek 
and  Latin,  and  all  the  languages  fpoken  at  prefent  in  Europe,  are 
derived  from  the  Celtic  ;  but  he  has  no  where  faid  that  the  Celtic 
is  not  Itfelf  a  derivative  from  fome  other  language  :  Or  if  he  had 
liiid  it,  I  fhould  not  have  believed  him ;  for  the  Celts,  though  a  ve- 
ry warlike  people,  were  certainly  not  a  people  of  arts  and  fciences, 
and  therefore  not  capable  of  inventing  the  language  they  fpoke,  any 
more  than  the  Goths  were  capable  of  inventing  their  language, 
v.dilch,  as  it  is  preferved  in  Iceland,  is  a  more  perfect  language  than 
the  Celtic,  having  what  the  Celtic  has  not,  nor  any  language  fpoken 
at  prefent  in  Europe,  and  w^hich  I  think  one  of  the  greateft  arts  of 
language ;  I  mean  cafes  of  nouns  formed  by  fledion  :  And  in  feve- 
ral  refpedls  it  is  a  more  perfect  language  than  even  the  Latin ;  for 
we  are  not  to  fuppofe  that  becaufe  a  people  fpeak  a  language  of  art, 
therefore  they  invented  it,  otherwife  we  muft  fuppofe  that  the 
Greenlanders  invented  their  language,  which  has  a  dual  number, 
and  a  firft  and  fecond  future*,  as.  well  as  the  Greek.  The  fa'dt 
truly  is,  that  this  primaeval  language,  which  I  fay  was  invented 
in  Egypt,  was  a  language  of  the  greateft  art,  as  we  may  judge  by 
what  is  preferved  of  It  in  India.  And  this  language  was  fpread  all 
over  the  earth  :  But  it  is  impoffible  to  fuppofe,  that  to  every  coun- 
try it  was  tranfported  in  the  fame  degree  of  perfeclion  that  it  was 
fpoken  in  Egypt.     I  am  perfuaded  it  has  fulTered  lefs  in  India,  than 

in 

*  This  information  I  had  from  an  acquaintance  of  mine,  whom  1  mentioned  before, 
Mr  Thorkelin,  -who  has  told  me  a  great  many  other  curious  particulars  of  that  language, 
having  {ludied  a  grammar  of  it,  which  is  publiflied. 


Chap.  V.         ANTIENT    METAPHYSICS.  347 

in  any  other  country  to  which  it  was  earned,  hclng  preferved  there, 
as  a  precious  depofit,  in  the  hands  of  a  body  of  men  more  refem- 
bling  the  priefts  of  Egypt,  who  certainly  fpoke  it  in  the  greateft  pu- 
ritv,  than  anv  other  body  of  men  now  in  the  world.  No  other 
nation,  I  am  perfuaded,  got  it  in  Inch  purity  as  the  Indians  did  ;  cr 
if  they  had  got  it,  they  could  not  have  preferved  it  fo  pure,  not  hav- 
ing amone  them  fuch  a  fociety  of  men  as  the  Bramins  of  India.  And 
my  wcnt.er  i?,  th;it  fo  niuch  of  it  lias  been  prefenfcd  in  fome  na- 
tions, and  particularly  among  the  Goths,  who  have  always  been 
reckoned  a  barbarous  nation  ;  nor  is  it,  I  think,  at  all  to  be  won- 
dered, that  fo  little  of  it  has  come  to  other  nations,  or  has  been  pre- 
ferved among  them. 

x-iS  to  the  Celtic,  it  is  no  doubt  true  that  the  Greek  and  Latin, 
the  Oriental  languages,  and  all  the  languages  now  fpoken  in  Europe, 
have  a  great  conne<flion  with  it.  But  this  does  not  prove  that  all  thefe 
languages  are  derived  from  it,  but  only  that  they  all  came  off  from  the 
fame  common  ftock :  And  particularly  as  to  the  Greek,  we  are  fure 
that  it  came  directly  from  Egypt,  being  imported  by  the  Egyptian 
colonies  w^ho  fettled  there,  and  by  the  governing  men  who  came  with 
them,  fuch  as  Cecrops,  who  no  doubt  would  bring  with  them  their 
language,  as  well  as  their  other  Egyptian  arts  *.  Now,  if  the 
Greeks,  who  were  certainly  a  mod  ingenious  people,  and  appear  to 
have  cultivated  arts  and  Iciences  very  much,  even  in  early  times, 
did  not  invent  their  own  language,  how  can  we  fuppofe  that  a  bar- 
barous people,  fuch  as  the  Celts  and  the  Goths,  invented  theii's. 
It  is  evident,  therefore,  I  think,  that  they  muft  have  got  their  lan- 
guage from  Egypt,  as  well  as  the  Greeks,  though  I  believe  not  fo 
diredly  and  immediately,  but  through  the  channel  of  other  nations. 

X  X  2  The 

'  *  See  upon  this  fubje£t  what  I  have  faici  in  the  13th  chap,  of  book  3d  of  vol.  I.  cf 
the  Orighi  ot  Language,  where  I  think  I  have  removed  every  fhadcv  of  doubt  con- 
cerning the  origin  of  the  Greek  language  being  from  Egypt. 


348  ANTIENT   METAPHYSICS.        Book  III. 

The  Celts  were  certainly  a  ve^y  antient  nation,  more  antient  in 
Europe  than  the  Goths,  who  did  not  come  to  the  northern  parts  of 
Europe  from  the  Tauric  Cherfonefe,  now  called  Crim  Tartary,  un- 
der their  leader  Odin,  till  about  the  time  of  Julius  Caefar.  And, 
they  were  a  much  more  numerous  nation  than  the  Goths ;  for  they 
inhabited  all  Gaul,  Britain,  Ireland,  and  a  great  part  of  Spain,  and 
alfo  of  Italy.  I  think,  therefore,  it  is  likely,  that  they  got  the  lan- 
guage of  Egypt  more  early  than  the  Goths  or  any  other  European 
nation,  except  the  Greeks,  who,  as  I  have  juft  now  faid,  learned  the 
Egyptian  language  from  the  Egyptian  colonies  that  were  fettled  among 
them.  I  think,  too,  it  is  probable,  that,  from  the  Celts,  the  language 
of  Egypt  was  propagated  to  maiiy  other  nations.  This,  I  think, 
Ivl.  Bullet  has  made  evident  in  his  Celtic  Dictionary,  where  he  has 
fhown,  that  the  words  of  the  Celtic  ai'e  likewife  words  of  a  won- 
derful number  of  other  languages,  fuch  as  the  Elebrew,  Greek, 
Latin,  Gothic,  German,  Saxon,  &c.  And  there  is  one  word 
he  mentions,  and  a  capital  word  in  all  languages,  I  mean  the 
name  of  Man,  which  he  has  iTiown  to  be  a  word,  not  only  in 
all  the  languages  of  Europe,  but  in  the  Perfian,  the  Turkiih,  the 
Mo"'ul  languages,  and  even  in  the  oldeft  dialedt  of  Greek,  I  mean 
the  Latin,  where  one  fhould  hardly  exped  to  find  it.  But  it  is 
there  not  indeed  by  itfelf,  but  in  compofition,  in  the  word  Mati- 
clp'uini,  which  fignifes  a  man  that  is  taken  and  made  a  flave  of*. 
And  I  think,  it  is  likely,  that  the  Celts  muft  have  feen  fome  an- 
tient Vv'riting  of  the  Egyptian  language,  called  by  the  name  we  ufe 
to  denote  it,  and  which  I  underftand  to  be  the  name  which  the  Bra- 
mins  give  it,  I  mean  Shanfcrit,  which,  in  the  dialed  of  the  Celtic, 
that  is  at  this  day  fpoken  in  the  Highlands  of  Scotland,  denotes  an- 
tient ivriting.  And  as  it  is  the  name  given  by  the  Bramins  to  their 
language,  I  am  perfuaded  it  is  an  Egyptian  vvord. 


Thus 


*  See  the  Celiic  Diftionsrv,  torn.-  3-  p."  133. 


Chap.  V.         A  N  T I E  N  T  M  E  T  A  P  H  Y  S I  C  S.  349 

Thus,  I  think,  I  have  proved,  that  there  was  once  upon  the  earth 
but  one  language,  from  which  all  the  languages  that  are  now  fpoken, 
or   were  I'poken  in  antient  times,  are  derived.     If  the  reader  is  not 
yer  fatisfied,  concern' ng  this  original  language,  by  wdiat  I  have  faid 
of  the   fnnilarity  betwixt  fo  many  different  languages,  I  can  direft 
him  to  books,  where  the  fimilitude,  betwixt  particular  languages,  is 
demonllrated  to  be  fuch  as  could  not  happen  by  accident.     There  is 
particularly  Sheringhame,  JJc  Angloriim  Orighie,  from  p.  gg.  to  no. 
•w'.iei"e  he  has  proved  a  wonderful  iikenefj  betwixt  the   Welch   and 
Greek  languages.     And  the  fame  author,  in  the  fame  work,  p.  359. 
has  proved  a  furpriling  conformity  betwixt  the  Saxon  language  and 
the  Greek  :     And,   as   1  have  faid  *,  there  is  a  late  German  writer, 
who  has  difcovered   a  great  affinity  betwixt  the  Teutonic,  and  the 
language  of  Japan.      If  the  reader. is  not  fatisfied  with  all   thefe  au- 
thorities,  I   would  have  him  read  what  I  have  written  in  vol.  i.  of 
tlie   Origin  of  Language  "f",  where   I  have  faid  a  good  deal  of  the 
migration   of   languages    from  one  country  to  another,   and  parti- 
cularly of  the  Celtic,  which  not  only  fpread  itfelf  over  the  greateft 
part  of  Europe,  but  found  its  way  to  the  north-eaft  parts  of  Afia, 
and  even  to  America. 

Thus,  I  think,  I  have  proved  the  opinion  of  M.   Bullet  and  Ge- 
belin,  that  there  was  once  an  original  and  primitive  language,  frcHii 

which 

*  F-ige  339- 

f  Book  3.  clmp.  12.  p.  587.  and  following,  of  2d  edition.  In  this  chapter,  (p.  585.) 
it  is  obferved  that  language  is  the  moil:  lafting  of  all  the  memorials  of  men ;  and  of 
the  language  itfslf,  the  names  of  places  are  more  lafting  than  any  other  words  of  the 
language ;  for  they  are  preferved  when  the  language  itfelf  is  no  longer  a  living  lan- 
guafre,  nor  preferved  in  any  written  monuments.  In  this  way  I  have  faid  that  the  Cel- 
tic is  preferved  in  France  and  Spain,  and  I  might  have  added  in  England  and  the  low 
countrv  of  Scotland,  where  the  Celcic  language  has  long  ceafed  to  be  Ipoken  or  writ- 
ten. And  I  obferve  that  M.  Bullet  has  very  properly  made  ufc  of  the  ilmil:a-ity  of 
names  of  places,  in  proving  languages,  that  are  now  very  different,  to  have  been  origi- 
nally the  fame. 


350  ANTIENT    METAPHYSICS.        Book  I  IT. 

which  all  the  languages,  that  now  are,  or  ever  were,  upon  earth, 
are  derived.  This,  I  think,  is  of  itfelf  a  very  great  difcoverv,  in 
the  hiftory  of  arts  and  faiences,  and  of  man.  But  if  it  be  likewife 
true,  what  I  have  endeavoured  to  prove,  that  the  native  country  of 
this  original  language  was  Egypt,  and  that  it  was  the  parent  country 
of  other  arts  and  of  fciences  ;  I  think,  I  may  fay,  that  I  have  com- 
pleated  the  hiilorv  of  arts  and  fciences,  v;hich  I  think  a  mofi;  im- 
portant part  of  the  hiftory  of  man,  as  it  is  by  thefe  he  is  made  an 
intellectual  creature  in  aSlualhy^  and  not  in  capacity  only,  as  he  was 
in  his  natural  ftate. 

As  there  muft  have  been  a  progrefs  in  the  art  of  language,  as  well  as 
in  other  arts,  and  I  believe  a  longer  and  more  difficult  progrefs  than 
in  any  other,  I  will  here  obfcrve  the  firft  ftep  in  the  formation  of  a 
language  of  art.  Men,  when  they  firft  began  to  fpeak,  would  naturally 
draw  out  the  articulate  lounds  they  had  learned  to  a  great  length,  re- 
fembling  their  animal  cries  before  they  had  learned  to  articulate,  and 
which  we  know  is  the  cafe  at  this  day  of  the  barbarous  languages. 
But  when  they  began  to  form  a  language  of  art,  it  was  natural  that 
they  fhould  firft  make  words  of  one  fyllable,  before  they  made  word's 
of  two  or  more;  for  the  progrefs  of  all  arts  is  from  what  is  fimple  to 
what  is  complex.    And  this  firft  beginning  of  a  language  of  art,  is,  as 
r  have  elfewhere  obferved*,  ftill  preferved  in  China,  being  imported  to 
that  country  from  Egypt,  before  it  was  there  brought  to  perfection. 
And   this,   I   think,  is  the  only  way  that  fo  extraordinary  a  pheno- 
menon, as  the  Chinefe  language  is,  can  be  accounted  for ;  for  I  do 
not  think  that,  imperfedl  as  it  is,  it  could  have  been  invented  by  the 
Chinefe  themfelves,  who  are,  I   believe,  what   Dr  Warburton   calls 
them,   a   dull  uninventive  people.     And  as  M.  de  Guigues  has  pro- 
ved that  they  got  their  hieroglyphical   or   fymbolical   writing  from 

Egypt, 

*  Vol.  6th  of  Origin  of  Language,  p.  iq8.     See  alfo  what  I  have  faid,  p.   276  ofl 
Shis  voUime. 


Chap.  V.        ANTIENT    METAPHYSICS.  ^S^ 

^SyP^  I  think  it  is  to  be  prefumed,  that  from  thence  they  got  like- 
wife  their  hinguage. 

And  here  a  curious  queftion  occurs  :  By  what  rule,  or  whether 
by  any  rule,  thofe  lirft  monofyllabical  words,  which  I  agree,  with 
M,  Gebelin,  were  the  roots  of  the  primitive  language,  and  confe- 
quently  of  every  language  derived  from  it,  were  formed  ?  And  M. 
Gebelin  is  of  opinion,  that  thofe  roots  were  not  names  given  by 
chance  to  things,  but  that  there  was  a  reafon  why  one  fyllable  was 
employed  to  exprefs  a  certain  thing  rather  than  another ;  and  the 
reafon,  he  fays,  was  fome  refemblance  betwixt  the  found  of  the 
word,  and  the  thing  expreffed  by  it.  And  he  is  at  great  pains  to 
fhew,  that  there  is  not  only  in  the  compofition  of  letters  making 
fyllables,  but  in  every  fingle  letter,  an  expreflion  of  fome  idea,  fen- 
fiuion,  fentiment,  or  feeling,  of  one  kind  or  another;  fo  that  he 
makes  even  of  fingle  letters  a  kind  of  roots. 

As  to  my  opinion  in  this  matter,  I  fo  far  agree  with  M.  Gebelin, 
that  I  believe  man  does  hardly  any  thing  by  mere  chance  ;  and  that 
the  maxim  of  Mr  Leibnitz's  Philofophy,  That  there  is  a  reafon  for 
every  thing,  will  apply  to  the  works  of  man  as  well  as  to  the  works 
of  nature,  in  fo  far  thai  man  does  nothing  without  a  reafon,  though 
very  often  not  a  good  or  fufficient  reafon,  but  fiich  as  moves  him 
to  a£t.  I  likewife  agree  with  him,  that  there  are  many  words,  I  be- 
lieve, in  all  languages,  which  exprefs,  by  their  founds,  the  things  fig- 
nified  by  them,  fuch  as  the  words  crap}^  gurgle^  roar,  and  many 
other  in  Englifh.  And  further,  I  think  that  not  only  corporeal 
things,  perceived  by  the  fenfes,  may  be  fo  expreffed,  but  alfo  the 
ideas  and  fentiments  of  the  mind,  may  likewife  be  denoted  by 
founds  which  have  fome  analogy  to  them.  And  accordingly  we 
may  obferve,  that  in  Engliili,  and  I  believe  in  all  languages,  the 
words   denoting  the   operations  of  the  mind,   are  metaphors  taken 

from 


2,s2  ANTIENT    METAPHYSICS.        Book  III. 

from  the  actions  of  body,  fuch  as  ivclgh^  ponder^  rejiedl^  pi-of- 
pe£l,  retrofpe&^  &c.  And  In  this  way  M.  Gebelin  thinks  that  the 
letters,  or  a  certain  compofition  of  them,  have  an  analogy  to  the 
ideas  and  fentiments  of  the  mind,  as  well  as  to  the  objedls  perceived 
by  our  fenfes.  Nor  is  M.  Gebelin  fingular  in  this  opinion  ;  for 
Plato,  in  the  Cratylus,  has  maintained  the  fame  dodrine  ;  but  for 
my  part  I  think  that  there  is  fo  much  fancy  and  conjedure  in  this 
matter,  and  fo  little  certainty,  that  I  do  not  chufe  to  fay  any  tiling 
more  concerning  it,  except  that  I  think  it  fliews  language  not  to  be 
a  natural  operation,  as  many  fuppofe  it  to  be,  and  among  others  M. 
Gebelin  himfelf,  but  a  work  of  the  greateft  art,  fo  great,  that  we 
are  not  able  to  give  a  latisfadlory  account  of  the  firft  principles  of 
it,  I  mean  the  formation  of  the  radical  founds,  or  firft  words  of  it. 

And  here  I  return  again  to  the  Shanfcrit  language,  which,  accord- 
ing to  the  account  given  by  Father  Pons  the  Jefuit,  who  was  a  mif- 
fionary  in  India,  is  a  moft  wonderful  piece  of  art,  and  of  fcience 
too  ;  for  it  analyfes  all  the  particular  ideas  exprefled  by  the  words, 
into  the  general  ideas  from  which  they  arlfe :  And  thefe  are  exprelTed. 
by  monofyllables,  which  are  the  roots  of  the  language  ;  for  M.  Ge- 
belin is  certainlv  \n  tlio  right,  when  he  fays,  that  the  roots  of  the 
primitive  language  mvift  have  been  all  monolyllables,  which  are  the 
fimpleft  words,  and  therefore  beft  fitted  for  derivation  and  compo- 
fition. From  thef:  roots  are  deduced,  in  long  order  and  with  great 
variety,  but  afcevt:''ned  by  fixed  and  determinate  rules,  ail  the  ftve- 
ral  words  of  ^he  language,  exprefling  particular  ideas,  wliich  fall  un- 
der the  general  ideas  denoted  by  the  roots.  And  he  gives  an  ex- 
ample of  this  in  the  monofyllable  km,  which  denotes  the  general 
idea  of  aHion ;  and  from  it  are  formed,  by  derivation  and  compofi- 
tion, all  the  words,  of  number  no  doubt  veiy  great,  exprefling  the 
different  kinds  of  action.  And  in  this  way,  he  fays,  if  you  are 
pofTefTed  of  the  roots  of  the  language,  and  the  rules  of  derivation  and 

com- 


Chap.  V.         ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  ^si 

compofition  obferved  in  It,  you  may  form  a  language  of  your  own, 
which,  though  different  from  the  common  language,  will  be  very 
well  underftood  by  thofe  who  know  the  art  by  which  the  language 
is  formed.  This  account,  given  by  the  Jefuit,  agrees  perfedlly 
with  what  Mr  Wilkins  told  me  of  the  formation  of  the  language, 
which  he  learned  both  from  the  Bramins,  who  taught  him  the  lan- 
guage, and  from  a  grammar  of  it  that  is  in  his  pofTeffion.  I  will 
only  add,  that  a  language  of  fuch  art,  muft  have  been  the  work  of 
philofophers,  who  know  that  all  fciences  begin  with  analyfis,  by 
which  we  rife  to  general  principles,  and  from  thefe  defcend  to 
particulars.  And  there  is  one  of  the  greateft  works  of  fcience,  to 
which,  I  think,  the  Shanfcrit  language  may  fitly  be  compared :  The 
work  I  mean  is,  that  upon  the  Categories  by  Archytas,  the  Pytha- 
gorean philofopher,  and  after  him  by  Ariftotle ;  for,  in  that  work, 
all  the  ideas  of  the  human  mind  are  reduced  to  certain  general  ideas, 
called  Categories,  from  which  all  our  particular,  or  lefs  general,  ideas, 
are  deduced. 

But  even  the  Greek  and  Latin,  though  languages  not  near  fo  per- 
fe£t  as  the  Shanfcrit,  are  wonderful  works  of  art,  when  we   confi- 
der,  that  by  means  of  derivation,  compofition,  and  fledtion,  they 
contrive  to  conne(ft  together  five  millions  of  words,  (the  number  of 
words  in  the  Latin  language  according  to   Biiliop  Wilkins),  fo  that 
they  may  be  comprehended  in  the  memory  and  readily  applied  to 
ufe.     Of  thefe  three  great  arts  of  language,  the  greateft,  as   I  have 
obferved  *,  is   fledion,  by  which,   in   nouns,   not  only  genders  and 
numbers  are  denoted,  but  the  relations  of  things  to  one  another  are 
exprefled  by  the  cafes  :    And,  by  the  conjugation  of  verbs,  not  only 
perfons  and  numbers  are  expreffed,  but  time  and  almoft  every  circum- 
ftance  of  the  action  ;  which  makes  fuch   variations  in  the  fledlion 
of  the  verb,  and  of  its  participles,   that  it  is  computed,  a   fingle 
Greek  verb  produces  more  than  looo  words. 

Vol.  IV.  Y  y      '  Before 

■    *  Page  346.  / 


354  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.         Book  III. 

Before  I  conclude  this  chapter,  in  which  I  have  beftowed  fo  much 
praife  on  M.  GebeUn,  and,  I  think,  fo  juftly,  I  cannot  help  obferv- 
ing,  that  it  appears  to  me  very  furprifmg,  that  a  man  fo  learned,  as 
he  is,  in  fo  many  different  languages,  Ihould  know  fo  little  of  the 
philofophy  of  language,  as  to  maintain,  that  men  have  not  only 
from  nature  the  organs  of  fpeech,  but  that  they  fpeak  naturally,  as 
naturally  as  they  breath ;  and  that  they  have  from  nature,  alfo  the 
ideas  which  they  exprefs  by  words,  and,  that  the  words  are  fo  much 
the  natural  figns  of  thofe  ideas,  that  they  are  immediately  underftood 
by  thofe  who  hear' them  :  So  that  two  men  meeting  together,  who 
had  learned  no  language,  could  communicate  together  by  fpeech, 
and  underftand  one  another  perfedly  well.  And  this  natural  lan- 
guage is  what  he  calls  the  primitive  language  *. 

If  this  account  of  the  -origin  of  language  be  true,  I  fee  no  reafon 
why  every  art  may  not  have  been  pradtifed  by  man,  without  teach- 
ing or  ufe,  as  well  as  this  moft  difficult  art  of  language.  And,  ac- 
cordingly, our  author  has  faid  f ,  that  men,  from  the  beginning, 
knew  the  principles  of  aftronomy  and  the  folar  year :  And  he  thinks, 
that  men  were,  in  the  very  beginning  of  their  exiftence  upon  this 
earth,  perfed;  in  all  the  arts  of  life  ;  fo  that  what  is  commonly  cal- 
led the  natural  ftate,  never  had  any  exiftence ;  though  he  does  not 
deny,  that  men  at  this  day  are  to  be  found  in  a  very  favage  and  bar- 
barous ftate :  But,  fays  he,  thofe  men  are  degenerated  from  what 
they  were  originally  ;  and  the  reafon  of  this  degeneracy,  he  fays, 
has  been  conqueft,  tyranny,  and  oppreffion|. 

How  different  this  fyftem  of  human  nature  is  from  that  which  I 
have  delivered  upon  the  authority  of  antient  books,  muft  be  evident 
to  every  reader;  and,  indeed,  it  appears  to  me  to  be  fo  repugnant, 

not 

*  Vol.  ■^.  p.  70.  and  following.    ' 

t  Vol.  8.  p.  34.  X  Ibid.  p.  16. 


Chap.V.         ANTIENT   METAPHYSICS.  ^S5 

not  only  to  philofophy,  but  to  common  fenfe  and  obfervation,  that 
to  argue  againft  it  would  be  time  very  idly  fpent.  The  author  has 
profefled  himfelf  a  great  admirer  of  the  Greek  learning  ||  ;  but  he 
appears  to  have  carried  the  ftudy  of  that  learning  no  farther  (which 
is  the  cafe  of  very  many  Greek  fcholars)  than  the  underftanding  of 
the  language,  and  the  reading  many  of  the  books  in  it.  But  he  has 
not  carried  it  to  what  I  hold  to  be  the  perfection  of  the  Greek 
learning,  that  is,  their  philofophy.  From  it  he  might  have  learned, 
that  man  is  by  nature  a  creature  only  capable  of  intelledl,  aad  con- 
fequently  only  capable  of  arts  and  fciences  ;  and  that  the  hlflory  of 
man  is  an  account  of  his  progreflion  from  a  ftate  of  mere  capacity, 
to  a  ftate  of  energy  and  aduality.  And  the  example  of  this  author 
convinces  me  more  and  more,  that  no  man  without  antient  philofo- 
phy, whatever  his  natural  talents  or  application  may  be,  (in  neither 
of  which,  I  think,  M.  Gebeiin  is  deficient),  can  underftand  the 
principles  of  any  art  or  fcience,  not  even  of  language,  nor  be  fo 
much  a  philofopher,  as  to  underftand  the  philofophy,  or  even  the 
hiftory  of  his  own  fpecies. 

This  language  of  M.  Gebeiin,  which  may  be  called  a  language  of 
inftindl,  like  the  cries  of  the  brute  animals,  by  which  they  commu- 
nicate with  one  another  their  appetites  and  defires,  and  which  are 
perfectly  underftood  among  themfelves,  is  what  our  author  calls  the 
primitive  original  language.  When  I  firft  began  to  read  his  work, 
I  underftood  his  fyftem  to  be,  that  this  had  been  the  original  lan- 
guage of  every  nation ;  and  that  the  languages  now  fpoken  were 
that  language,  but  with  thofe  changes  and  variations,  which  length 
of  time  muft  introduce  into  e^rery  language ;  and,  indeed,  I  think, 
this  is  the  natural  confequence  of  his  fyftem.  But,  upon  a  farther 
perufal  of  his  work,  I  find,  that  he  agrees  with  the  common  opini- 
on, that  one  language  is  derived  from  another.      And,  accordingly, 

Yy  2  he 

II  Vol.  9.  In  the  beginning. 


^^6  ANTIENT    METAPHYSICS.        Book  III. 

he  makes  the  Greek,  Latin,  Gothic,  and  Sclavonic,  to  be  all  deriv- 
ed from  the  Celtic  *.  How  far  this  is  agreeable  with  the  reft  of  his 
fyftem,  I  leave  the  reader  to  judge. 

But  there  is  no  need  to  fhow  contradidions  in  his  fyftem,  or  to 
confute  it  by  arguments;  for  there  is  a  fad  very  well  known,  which 
at  once  puts  an  end  to  it.  The  fact  I  mean  is,  that  deaf  men  are 
likewife  dumb,  and  cannot  articulate  not  only  words  of  feveral  fylla- 
bles,  but  not  even  monofyllabical  words,  of  which,  M.  Gebelin  fays, 
that  the  primitive  language  confifted.  They  cannot,  therefore,  pro- 
nounce the  firft  elements  of  fpeech ;  yet  they  have  the  organs  of  pro- 
nunciation, fuch  as  we  have  that  ^re  not  deaf.  And,  accordingly, 
they  may  be  taught  to  fpeak,  though  with  great  labour  and  much 
difficulty,  and  even  to  fpeak  well  ;  for  I  heard  a  female  fcholar,  of 
the  Abbe  de  TEpe,  in  Paris,  fpeak  fo  well,  and  fo  fluently,  (not 
with  that  hefitation  and  frequent  ftops  with  which  I  have  heard  Mr 
Braidwood's  fcholars  fpeak),  that  I  could  hardly  diftinguifh  her 
fpeaking  from  that  of  any  other  perfon.  And  the  reafon  why  there 
is  fo  much  difficulty  in  teaching  them,  is,  that  they  have  not  the  fenfe 
of  hearing,  fo  as  to  learn  to  fpeak  by  imitation,  as  our  children  do. 
Now,  what  muft  be  learned  either  by  teaching  or  imitation,  is  cer- 
tainly a  thing  of  art  and  not  of  nature. 

But  I  have  fpent  too  much  time  (the  reader,  I  am  perfuaded,  will 
think)  in  explaining  this  very  extraordinary  fyftem,  which  I  believe 
no  author  before  M.  Gebelin  maintained.  And  I  will  conclude  my 
account  of  his  work,  with  obl"er\  ing,  how  very  difficult  the  inven- 
tion of  language  muft  have  been,  not  only  of  a  language  of  art, 
fuch  as  the  Shanfcrit,  Greek,  or  Latin,  but  of  the  moft  barbarous 
languages,  expreffing  only  the  ideas  of  the  fpeaker,  and  conneding 
thofe  ideas  together  forae  way  or   other,   however  imperfed,  but 

without 
•  Vol.  9.  p.  206. 


Chap.  V.         ANTIENT   METAPHYSICS.  357 

without  which  there  can  be  no  fpeech.  Men  in  the  natural  flate 
without  the  ufe  of  fpeech,  or  having  ever  heard  it  pronounced,  are 
precifely  in  the  cafe  of  dumb  men.  Now,  can  we  conceive,  that 
fuch  men,  though  they  have  the  organs  of  fpeech  as  perfe(£l  as  other 
men,  and  accordingly  may  be  taught  to  ufe  them,  but  \\'ith  much 
labour  and  difficulty,  fliould  be  able  to  teach  themfelves.  The  rea- 
der, therefore,  will  not  be  furprifed,  that  all  along,  in  the  courfe  of 
this  work,  I  have  fuppofed  that  language  could  not  be  invented 
without  fupernatural  affiftance;  and,  accordingly,  I  have  maintained, 
that  it  was  the  invention  of  the  Daemon  Kings  of  Egypt,  who,  be- 
ing more  than  men,  tirft  taugni  themfelves  to  articulate,  and  then 
taught  others.  But,  even  among  them,  I  am  perfuaded,  there  was 
a  progrefs  in  the  art,  and  that  inch  a  language  as  the  Shanfcrit  was 
not  at  once  invented.  They,  therefore,  began  with  articulating  on- 
ly monofyllables ;  and  when  the  language  was  in  that  rude  ftate,  it 
was  conveyed  through  the  channel  of  India  to  China.  But  when  a 
language  of  art  was  formed  in  Egypt,  and  words  of  many  fyllables 
were  invented,  a  proper  ufe  w  is  made  of  thofe  monofyllables;  for 
they  were  made  the  roots  of  the  language,  irom  which,  by  deriva- 
tion, compolition,  and  fleftion,  fo  wonderful  a  work  of  art,  as  the 
Shanfcrit,  was  formed.  But  the  Chmefe,  wanting  thofe  Daemons  of 
Egypt  to  teach  them,  and  being  deficient  alfo  in  genius  and  natural 
parts,  have  kept  the  language  in  the  fame  infantine  ftate  they  got  it 
from  I'gypt;  which  is  fo  imperfed.,  thai,  as  I  have  obferved*,  they 
ufe  it  in  no  matter  of  fcience,  not  even  in  law  and  the  adminiftra- 
tion  of  juftice:  And  even  in  private  converfation,  about  the  ordinary 
affairs  of  life,  they  often  cannot  m:4:e  themfelves  underftood  with- 
out figns  and  geftures  ;  and  fometnnes  they  are  obliged  to  have  re- 
courfe  to  their  written  language. 

M.  Gebelin  having  eftahlifhed,  as  I  think  he  has  done,  that  there 
muft  be  fome  primitive  language  from  which  all  the  other  languages 

in 
*  Page  107. 


358  ANTIENT    METAPHYSICS.        Book  III. 

in  the  world  are  derived,  the  only  queftion  that  remains  to  be  con- 
fidered   is,  In  what  country  this  language  was  invented  ?    And,  I 
think,  it  is  evident,  that  it  mull  have  been  in  Egypt,  for,  as  it  could 
not  have  been  invented  without  fupernatural  affiftance,  which  the 
Egyptians  had  from  their  Daemon  Kings,  what  other  country  befides 
Egypt  had  fuch  Kings.     The  Jews  were  no  doubt  aflifted  by  God 
in  eftablilhing  religion,  government,  and  laws,  and  were  conduced 
by  him,  through  the  greateft  dangers,  into  the  promifed  land,  which 
they  conquered  by  the  miracles  he  wrought  in  their  favour.     But  it 
is  no  where  faid,  that  he  interpofed  to  give  them  a  language,  nor 
indeed  was  there  any  neceflity  for  fuch   an   interpofition,   as  they 
had  got  a  language  from  Egypt.      But,  fuppofmg  no  fuch  fuperna- 
tural affiftance  necefTary  for  the  invention  of  language,  there  was  no 
nation  on  earth  in  fuch  a  ftate  of  civility,  (at  fo  early  a  period,  as 
when  Ofiris  went  to  India,  and  when  language  in  Egypt  had  been, 
as  I  have  faid,  invented),  that  they  could  have  invented  even  the 
moft  barbarous,  much  lefs  a  language  of  fuch  art  as  he  carried  with 
him  to  India. 

From  Egypt  it  was  propagated  all  over  the  earth.     For  language, 
as  I  have  elfewhere  obferved,  is  an  art  of  eafy  communication,  as 
far  at  leaft  as  regards  the  articulation  of  it,  to  an  animal  fo  imitative 
as  man,  efpecially  by  the  voice;  and  in  that  way  it  was  communicat- 
ed to  moft  nations.      For  the  moft  barbarous  of  them,  hearing  the 
Egyptians  fpeak,  or  any  other  nation  that  had  learned  from  them, 
would    naturally  imitate    the    articulate    founds;    and,    having    got 
fome  of  them  with  the  fenfe  annexed  to  them,  and,  at  the  fame 
time,  having  formed  a  habit  of  articulating,  they,  with  thefe  few 
words,  v/ould    make    a   language    of   their    own,    in    imitation    of 
the    articulate    founds    they  had    learned.     And    this,    I    think,    is 
a   very   natural    account    of    the    many   barbarous    languages    that 
have  been  derived  from  this  fo  perfe£t  language.     But  the  Shan- 
fcrit   I   hold  to  have  been  conveyed  to  India  by   Ofiris,  in   great 

purity, 


Chap.  V.         ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  359 

purity,  with  not  only  the  found  and  fenfe  of  the  words  preferved, 
but  alfo  the  whole  art  of  the  language ;  and  it  was  depofited 
there  in  the  hands  of  the  Bramins  or  Priefts,  an  order  which  he  had 
inftituted,  by  whom  it  has  been  preferved  till  now,  1  will  not  fay 
in  perfedl  purity,  but  I  believe  very  little  corrupted.  But,  that  it 
was  improved  by  them,  I  cannot  believe,  from  what  I  have  lie^.'d 
of  them  from  Mr  Wilkins,  who  tells  me,  that  they  are  not  at  all  of 
an  inventive  genius,  and  can  only  preferve,  in  their  memories,  vhat 
they  haA'e  learned  from  their  books   or  their  ancertors,  and  ;ot 

very  well  explain  even  that.  Next  to  the  Indians,  the  Greeks  ap- 
pear to  have  got  it  in  the  grcateft  purity;  and  it  was  preferved  among 
them  by  their  poets,  who  were  their  firft  writers,  and  tirlt  cultivators 
of  arts  and  fciences.'  Among  the  antient  writers  of  Greece,  Homer 
holds  the  firft  rank;  and,  if  his  poems  were  to  be  diligently  compar- 
ed with  the  Shanfcrit,  there  would,  I  am  persuaded,  be  found  in 
them  more  of  that  language  than  in  any  other  Gre -r  book.  It  was- 
his  writings  which  preferved  the  Egyptian  language  from  being  as 
much  corrupted  in  Greece  as  it  was  among  the  common  people  of 
India :  For  the  feveral  dialeds  of  the  Greek  language,  I  hold  to 
have  been  all  derived  from  his  poems,  not  his  poems  from  thefe 
dialetfts,  as  many  poeple  ablurdly  fuppofe. 

The  Celts,  as  I  have  elfewhere  obferved*,  are  a  very  antient 
people,  and  were  once  very  wide  fpread  all  over  Europe :  They  got, 
therefore,  I  am  perfuaded,  the  Egyptian  language  more  early  than 
any  other  European  nation  except  the  Greek  ,  who,  as  I  have  faid 
learned  it  from  the  Egyptian  colonies  that  were  fettled  among  them. 
And,  I  think,  it  is  probable,  that,  from  the  Celts,  the  language  was 
propagated  to  many  other  nations.  And  the  Celts,  themfelves,  ap- 
pear to  have  preferved  it  very  carefully :  For  their  language  has  a 
very  great  refemblance  to  the  Latin  dialed  of  the  Greek ;  and  I 
was  told,  by  a  man,  who  feemed  to  underftand  it  verv  well,  that 

the 
*  Page  348. 


36o  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.         Book  III. 

the  firft  line  of  Virgil's  ^neid  was  all  Celtic  words,  except  the  pro- 
per name  of  Troja ;  and,  as  I  have  obferved  in  the  paffage  laft 
quoted,  the  word  Sba/i/crit,  which  is  the  name  given  by  the  Bra- 
mins  to  their  language,  denotes,  in  the  dialedt  of  Celtic  fpoken  in 
the  Highlands  of  Scotland,  antient  writing. 

To  thefe  obfervations  I  will  add  one  more.  It  may  at  firft  fight 
appear  very  furprifing,  that  there  Ihould  be  fo  many  languages,  I 
do  not  know  how  many  hundreds,  all  different  from  one  another,  and 
yet  all  derived  from  the  fame  original  language.  But  language, 
pafTm"-  through  fo  many  mouths,  not  only  of  the  fame  nation,  but 
of  fo  many  diflerent  nations,  and  travelling  all  over  the  globe,  is 
the  moft  changeable  of  all  the  arts,  I  may  fay  of  all  the  things  be- 
longing to  men.  Alphabetical  charafters,  which  certainly  came 
from  Egypt  where  they  were  invented,  one  fhould  think  much  more 
fixed  and  permanent  than  the  found  or  fenfe  of  language.  Yet, 
though  there  were  but  two  kinds  of  them  in  Egypt,  the  one,  which 
they  called  their  facred  characters,  the  other,  their  popular,  when 
they  went  to  other  countries,  they  multiplied  to  74  different  alpha- 
bets, of  which  fpecimens  are  given  us  in  a  book  publifhed  in  Rome 
upon  the  writing  art,  written  by  a  countryman  of  mine,  of  the 
name  of  Elphingfton,  as  I  remember.  Now,  I  doubt  whether  any 
one  of  thefe  alphabets  had  the  exadl  figures  of  either  of  the  Egyp- 
tian alphabets  :  And  we  are  to  confider,  that  the  writing  art  travelled 
to  verv  few  countries,  compared  to  the  number  of  thofe  to  whom 
the  language  of  Egypt  was  propagated ;  for  it  is  only  a  few  nations 
of  learning,  that  have  the  ufe  of  written  characters. 

And  thus,  I  think,  I  have  proved,  both  by  fa£t  and  argument, 
that  Egypt  was  the  parent  country  of  all  arts  and  fciences,  even  of 
that  parent  art,  without  which  there  could  have  been  no  other  art, 
nor  even  civil  fociety  itfelf. 

It 


Chap.V.         ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  36.1 

It  may  be  thought  that  it  is  derogatory  from  the  providence  and 
goodnefs  of  God,  to  fuppoie  that  he  lliould  have  confined  the  in- 
vention of  arts  and  faiences,  which  are  of  ahfolute  neceffity,  for  re- 
ftoring  man  from  his  fallen  ftate,  to  one  country  only.  But  I  an- 
fwer  this  objection,  in  the  fame  mrnner  as  Ariftotle  has  anfwrered 
many  others  of  the  fame  kind  ; — That  providence,  as  it  leaves  no- 
thing undone  that  is  neceffary  or  proper,  fo  it  does  nothing  that  is 
unneceffary  or  fuperfluous.  That  the  country  of  Egypt  was  fufEci- 
ent  for  the  invention  of  arts,  and  propagating  them  all  over  the 
earth,  the  event  has  fliown.  But,  befides,  as  the  univerfe  is  a  fyf- 
tem,  Vand  the  mod  perfedl  of  all  fyfteras,  and  as  in  every  fyftem 
there  muft  be  variety  as  well  as  order  and  uniformity,  it  was  im- 
poffible,  that  every  country  fhould  be  as  well  fitted  by  its  fituation, 
its  climate  and  foil,  and  the  genius  of  its  inhabitants,  for  the  inven- 
tion and  propagation  of  civility  and  arts,  as  Egypt.  It  was,  there- 
fore, perfedly  agreeable  to  the  wifdom  and  goodnefs  of  the  great 
author  of  nature,  that  this  country  fhould  be  feledted  for  that  pur- 
pofe,  and  that  a  race  of  Kings  fhould  be  given  them  of  intelligence 
fuperior  to  men,  (without  which,  all  the  advantages  of  nature  I  have 
mentioned,  would  not,  in  my  opinion,  have  availed),  fuch  a  race 
as  is  not,  nor  ever  was  to  be  found,  in  any  other  nation. 

That  all  nations  fhould  have  made  the  fame  progrefs  In  arts  and 
fciences  thrl  the  Egyptians  did,  would  have  been  inconfiftent  with 
the  difference  we  find  among  men  as  well  as  among  other  animals, 
and  with  the  variety  of  fituations  and  circumflances,  which  muft 
neceffarily  be.  It  may  be  objected,  that  fome  people  have  not 
yet  got  the  ufe  of  fpeech,  fuch  as  the  Orang  Outangs  ;  fo  that 
they  can  neither  invent  nor  learn  any  art  or  fcience,  nor  even 
live  in  civil  fociety.  But  my  anfvver  is,  that,  though  the  Orang 
Outang  has  not  hitherto  learned  to  fpeak,  he  may  ftill  learn  it  in 
fome  future  time.     The  favage  people  in  Ethiopia,  who,  in  the 

Vol.  IV.  Z  z  time 


362  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.         Book  III. 

time  of  Diodorus  Siculus,  had  not  learned  to  ipeak  *,  have  fince 
learned  it;  for  there  are  now  no  people  in  ^Ethiopia  who  have  not 
the  ufe  of  fpeech  :  And,  in  the  fame  manner,  if  by  one  of  thofe  ma- 
ny revolutions,  which  happen  in  the  affairs  of  men,  a  people  of 
arts  fhould  fettle  in  that  part  of  Africa  where  the  Orang  Outangs 
live,  and  mix  with  them,  I  think  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  they 
would  acquire  the  faculty  of  fpeech,  though,  I  am  perfuaded,  very 
llowly,  as  Peter  the  wild  Boy  did. 


C  H  A  P. 

*  See  pv  123.  of  this -vol. 


Cliap.  VL       ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  ^6^ 


CHAP.         VI.' 


Tbe  h'ljlory  of  Religion  Jitly  fitbjoined  to  the  hijlory  of  arts  aiidfclcnces. 
— In  what  fenfe  Religion  is  natural  to  man  :  —  //  aoes  not  belong  to 
him  in  his  natural  flate^  nor  even  ivlxn  he  lives  in  herds ^  —  but  only 
in  the  civilized  fate  : — not  even  in  the  firf  ages  of  civility. — This 
proved  both  by  the  reafon  of  the  things  and  by  three  examples. — 
T'he  knowledge  of  a  God  arofc  from  mans  fu  dying  Imnfelf — The 
progrefs  of  that  fudy^  and  the  reafoning,  by  %vhich  me?i  were  con- 
vinced of  the  exifence  of  fuch  a  Being.  — As  men  formed  the  frf 
idea  of  a  God  from  themfclvcs^  they  naturally  made  him  like  them- 
felves,  conf  fling  both  of  body  and  inind,  but  both  more  excellent 
than  theirs. — Egypt  the  country  in  which  Religion  had  its  origin^ 
as  well  as  arts  and  fcienccs. — This  proved  both  by  the  reafon  of  the 
things  and  the  authorities  of  authors. — Egypt  having  been  govern- 
ed fo  long  by  Daj?ion  Kings ^  there  were  two  Religions  there  a 
Philofophical  Religion,  and  a  Religion  for  the  vulgar. — Religion 
ivent  from  Egypt  to  Greece  ; — alfo  to  India,  where  feveral  monu- 
ments of  the  Religion  of  Egypt  are   to  be  feen   at  this   day. The 

idea  of  a  God  went  to  other  countries  as  well  as  to  Greece  atid  India 
though  not  the  worfip  as  praclfed  in  Egypt. — A  plurality  of  Gods 
according  to  the  frf  Religion  among  men; — but  one  principal  among 
them,  according  to  the  Religion  both  of  Egypt  and  Greece. — As 
thofe  antient  Gods  were  fippofed  to  have  bodies,  they  had  alfo  fenfes 
that  were  to  be  gratified ; — and  their  minds  alfo  were  to  be  gained 
in  the  fame  way  as  the  minds  of  men,  by  things  prefented  to  them. 
—  The  frf  things  offered  to  the  Gods  were  the  fruits  of  the  earth. 
— The   memory  of  thefe   offerings  prcferved  both   in   Egypt  and 

^  ^  2  Greece, 


364  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.         Book  KI. 

Greece,  — When  men  began  to  eat  flejlo^  animals  were  offered  te 
the  Gods. — This  done  fo  conjlantly  -when  they  killed  animals.,  that 
to  kill  ivas  /aid  to  Aicrifice.  —  This  enjoined  in  Jome  nations  as  a 
duty  ^—particularly  among  the  Jews. — The  Gods,  by  thofe  facri- 
Jices,  were  fuppofcd  to  have  their  fmcll  gratifed,  and  their  cars 
pleafed  by  the  mufic  accompanying  the  facrifice. — Their  eyes  alfo 
f leafed  by  magnifcent  Temples,  Altars,  and  Proceffions.  —  In  return 
for  thefe  offerings,  it  was  expelled  that  the  Gods  would  give  them 
Juccefs  in  war  and  their  other  occupations;  —  and  would  reveal  to 
them  future  events,  which  they  /uppofcd  was  done  in  many  different 
laays. — Among  the  Jews,  Mofes  was  obliged  to  eflablijh  a  Religion 
refembling  the  Religion  of  the  times  : — They  were  incapable  of  re- 
ceiving any  other. — This  the  Jl ate  of  Religion  in  the  firfl  ages  of  the 
world,  before  arts  andfciences  had  made  any  confiderable  progrefs. — 
But  after  arts  andfciences  were  improved.  Religion  wore  a  very  dif- 
ferent face. — All  arts,  fciences,  and  Philofophy,  came  originally 
from  Egypi- — From  Egypt  they  went  to  Greece. — Of  the  great  dif- 
coveries  made  by  Philofophy  in  Theology. — Of  the  Platonic  DoEirine 
ef  the  Irinity. — The  firfl,  fecond,  and  third  perfons  of  that  Trinity 
explained. — An  error  Pdo%vn  in  our  Englifh  tranffation,  with  ref- 
peEl  to  the  fecond  perfon  of  the  Trinity. — Of  Plato'' s  doBrine  with 
refpeEi  to  a  flat  e  of  pre-cxifence,  and  a  future  flate  of  rewards  and 
punifhments. — The  Religion  of  the  Philofophers  of  Egypt  brought  to 
Greece,  aid  from  Greece  to  Italy,— where  it  was  much  cultivated 
among  the  Romans. — The  popular  Religion  of  Egypt  alfo  came  to 
Greece  and  Italy. — The  opinions  of  the  Philofophers  mufl  have  had 
an  influence  even  upon  the  opinions  of  the  world. — Of  the  flate  of 
Religion  at  the  time  ivhen  our  Saviour  came  to  the  Earth. — The  un- 
ier/landing  of  man  fo  much  then  improved,  that  they  had  formed  the 
idea  of  Beings  fupcrior  to  thenijelves  — But  their  ideas  of  fuch  Be- 
ings very  grofs  — By  the  advances  made  in  Sciences  and  in  Philofo- 
phy^  men  were  difpofed  to  receive  a  purer  Religion  when  our  Sa- 
viour 


Chnp.  VI.       ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  ^6s 

viour  came  to  the  world.— TChe  days  of  ignorance  were  then  every 
as  St  Fau!  has  /aid  in  his  fpeech  to  the  Athenians. —  An  acconnt 
given  of  that  fpeech. — //  contains  the  fyfem  of  pure  T'hcifn,  and 
gives  a  defcription  of  the  true  God. — Of  this  God  even  the  vulgar, 
among  the  Athenians^  appear  at  that  time  to   have   had  fame  idea. 
— St  Paul  fays  nothing  of  the  particular  do&rines   of  Chrlfianity, 
except  in  one  verfe,  ivhere  he  jpeaks  of  the   refnrredion   of  Jefui 
Chri/i. — This  laughed  at  by  the   Athenians. — though  probably  the 
Egyptians  believed  in  the  refurrcElion  of  the  body. — St  Paid  would 
explain  to  his  Converts   the  fundamental  doEfrines  of  Chrifianity, 
as  I  ft,   The  dotlrine  of  the  Trinity.,  of  which  an  explanation  is  al- 
ready given  in  this  chapter. — 2do,  Ihe  doElrine  of  the  eternal  ge- 
neration of  the  Son  of  God ^  —  of  which  an  explanation  is  here  given. 
3tio,  The  incarnation,  which  is  likewife  here  explained. — Another 
important  doctrine  of  Chriflianity  is,  that  we  viufl  not  believe  that 
we  can  be  happy  in  this  life,  but  mufl  look  forward  to  the  next. — 
This  inculcated  by  our  Saviour.  — He  has  alfo  provided  for  our  hap- 
pinefs  in  this  life,  if  we  witl  obey  the  laf  precept  he  gave  his  Dif- 
ciples,  to  love  one  another. — The  Chrtjlian  Religion,  more  a  Reli- 
gimr.  of  Love  than  any  other; — yet  by  the  abufe  of  it,  has  produced 
more  dijfenticns  among  men,  and  more  crimes  than  any  other  Reli- 
glon. — Of  the  end  of  this  World,  and  the  refloration  of  things, — 
This  a  doElrine  of  Antient  Philo/ophy,  with   which   the  revelation 
by  Jefus  Chrifl  agrees. — According  to  it,  that  new  World  is  not  at 
a  very  great  diflance. — This  to  be  proved  in  the  /equel  of  this  work^. 
by  fo owing  that  not  only  .the  minds  and  bodies  of  men  are  degenerat- 
ed, but  their  numbers  decreafed. — Thus  is  proved  that  our  Saviour 
came  to  the  ivorld  in  the  fulnefs  of  time,  when   it   was  proper  he 
fhould  come.      If  he  had  come  fooner,  and  in  the  days  of  ignorance, 
his  doctrine  could  not  have  been  received. — This  proved  by  the  exr- 
ample  of  barbarous  nations,  who  cannot  be  converted  to  the  Chrtjli- 
an Religion  J — and  of  the  Jews  thcmfdvcs, — %he  fingular  circum-r- 

Jlancc 


^66  ANTIENT   METAPHYSICS.        Book  III. 

Jlance  of  the  Jews,  that  they  are  a  nation  ivithout  a  country  : — 
They  are  in  all  nations,  and  of  no  nation. — The  ivorfc  thing  in  the 
Heathen  Religion  was  their  facrifices. — Thefe  muft  have  been  offen- 

Jive  to  the  true  God: — But  that  theyfooidd  be  praBifed,  was  neceffary 
among  people  who  had  not  an  underfanding  fo  cultivated,  as  to 
make  them  capable  of  underjla7iding  true  Religion. — It  was  indulg- 
ed even  to  the  Jews. — The  reafon  for  this  indidgence, — But  after 
the  coming  of  our  Saviour,  Sacrifices,  Rites,  and  Ceremonies,  were 
laid  afide,  and  a  pure  Religion  efablijhed, — but  not  all  Rites  were 
laid  afide,  and  particularly  ?iot  Mufic. — Of  the  effe&s  of  Muftc  in 
exciting  Devotion. — It  ought  to  be  more  praEiifcd  by  the  MiJJio- 
naries  among  the  barbarous  nations. — Of  the  preftnt  fate  of  Reli- 
gion on  this  earth. — Chri/lianity  the  Religion  of  Europe, — alfo  of 
Egypt,  in  the  country  about  Alexandria. — There  both  the  Jewifh 
and  Chrifian  Sabbaths  are  obfcrved. — In  the  Weflern  part  of  Afa^ 
Mahomedfm  prevails; — in  the  Eafern,  the  popular  Religion  of 
Egypt  which  went  to  India. — The  Philofophical  Religion  alfo  nvent 
there,  as  the  Bramins  believe  in  the  Trinity. — Conclufion  of  the 
Hifiory  of  Religion,  Government,  Arts,  and  Sciences.  —  Thefe  three 
comprehend  the  Hifory  of  Man,  as  from  them  proceed  all  the 
operations  of  the  intelleSi  of  man. — What  is  commonly  called  Hifory , 
is  not  what  the  Author  calls  a  Hifory  of  Man; — nor  is  it  a  mat- 
ter offcience. 


I 


N  the  preceding  chapters  I  have  given  the  hifiory  of  the  origin 
and  progrefs  of  arts  and  fciences.  To  this,  I  think,  it  will  not 
be  improper  to  fubjoin  the  hiftory  of  religion  ;  a  thing  of  the  great- 
eft  importance  to  man,  and  which,  I  think,  I  have  fhown,  and 
will  farther  (how,  is  very  much  connected  with  arts  and  fciences. 
And  as  religion  is  of  the  utmoft  in^portance  to  man,  the  hiftory  of 
it,  I  think,  is  a  material  part  of  the  hiftory  of  man. 

Thofe 


Chap.VL       ANTIENT   M  ET  A  PPI  YS  I  CS.  367 

Thofe,  who  think  that  religion  is  natural  to  man,  are  in  the  rio-ht, 
if  they  mean  that  hy  nature  he  is  religious,  when  he  has  gone 
through  that  progrefs  by  which  he  becomes  truly  a  man,  that  is,  an 
animal  of  intelleft  and  fcience.  But  if  they  m.ean  that  he  is  religi- 
ous in  his  natural  ftate,  they  either  do  not  know  what  that  ftate 
is,  or  Avhat  religion  is:  For,  in  his  natural  ftate,.  he  is  a  ir.ere  ani- 
mal, diftinguillied  only  from  other  animals  by  his  having  the  capa- 
city of  intelled:  and  fcience.  Now,  in  that  ftate,  it  is  impolTible  he 
can  form  any  idea  at  all,  much  lets  aa  idea  fo  noble  and  exalted  as 
that  of  God.  It  is  for  this  reafou  that  Peter  the  Wild  Boy,  as  I  have 
elfewhere  obferved*,  had  no  idea  of  a  God.  And  not  only  folitary 
favages,  fuch  as  he  was,  have  not  that  idea  ;  but,  after  they  are  af- 
fociated  and  come  to  live  in  herds,  as  the  Orang-Outang  does,  they 
are  not  able  to  form  that  idea.  Civil  fociety,  therefore,  is  abfolute- 
ly  neceflary  for  introducing  religion  among  men  :  And  I  have  fur- 
ther ftiown  "f ,  that,  even  in  the  firft  ages  of  that  fociety,  men  do 
not  form  the  idea  of  a  God  ;  for  what  ideas  they  then  form,  are 
only  of  corporeal  fubftances,  and  their  operations  upon  them  or 
upon  one  another,  their  only  care  and  attention  being  concerning 
the  necefTities  and  conveniencies  of  life.  Tiiis,  I  think,  I  have  prov- 
ed, in  the  pafllige  referred  to,  not  only  by  the  reafon  of  the  thing, 
but  by  fads.  And  1  have  mentioned  two  examples,  the  people  of 
the  Pelew  Iflands,  and  thofe  of  New  Zealand,  who,  though  they 
have  the  ufe  of  language,  and  have  made  fome  progrefs  in  the  ne- 
ceflary arts  of  life,  yet  have  no  religion.  And  to  thefe  two  ex- 
amples may  be  added  a  third,  the  inhabitants  of  Botany  Bay,  as  I  was 
informed  by  a  gentleman  of  the  name  of  Walker,  who  was  four 
years  in  that  country  purfer  of  a  man  of  war  3  and  a  fourth  ex- 
ample 

*  Vol.  3.  p.  371. 

t  Chap.  VI.  of  Dook  II.  of  this  vol.  p.  153. 


368  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.         Book  III. 

ample  in  the  people  of  the  Ladrone  Iflands  *.  And,  in  general, 
wherever  we  find  any  nation  little  advanced  in  the  arts  of  civility 
and  Government,  but  who  have  got  the  idea  of  a  God,  we  may 
conclude,  that  from  fome  other  nation  more  divilized,  with  whom 
they  have  had  a  connedion,  they  have  got  that  idea.  This  I  have 
Ihown  wae  the  cafe  of  the  inhabitants  of  North  America  f :  And,  I  am 
perfuaded,  the  fame  was  the  cafe  of  the  inhabitants  of  Guiana;  who, 
according  to  Dr  Bancroft's  account  of  them  :]:,  have  got  the  idea  of  a 
Supreme  God,  (fuch  a  God  as  the  Indians  of  North  America  call  the 
Great  Spirit^)  but  which  they  muft  have  got  from  European  nations^ 
particularly  the  Dutch,  with  whom  they  have  had  an  intercourfe  for 
more  than  a  century  part. 

Thus  it  appears,  that,  while  man  was  converfiint  only  with  exter- 
nal things,  he  could  not  form  the  idea  of  a  God.  It  was,  therefore, 
neceflary,  before  he  could  do  this,  that  he  Ihould  prad;ife  the  piecept 
of  the  Delphic  God,  and  befides  the  knowkdge  of  external  things, 
fhould  ftudy  and  know  himfelf ;  for,  as  I  have  obferved  in  more  than 
one  place,  it  is  only  by  knowing  ourfelves,  that  we  can  have  any  know- 
ledge of  fuperior  intelligencies.  By  this  ftudy,  he  would  difcover  that 
there  was  fomething  within  him,  which  we  call  mind^  whereby  he 
moved  his  body,  and,  by  the  intervention  of  it,  other  bod  es,  and  by 
which  he  conduded  his  life,  and  provided  what  was  neceflary  for  his 
fubfiftence  and  defence.  But  this  is  not  all;  for  it  was  further  necef- 
fary  that  he  fhould  look  round  him,  and  confider  the  works  of  nature, 
both  in  the  heavens  and  earth;  where  he  would  perceive  that  there 
were  motions  going  on,  fuch  as  he  could  not  perform,  and  with 
very  much  greater  order  and  regularity  than  his  motions.  And  here 
there  would  be  an  exercife,  not  only  of  the  intelledual,  but  of  the 

reafoning 

*  See,  upon  the  fubjeft  of  thofe  Iflands,  Churchill's  Coll.  of  Voy.  vol.  4.  p.  450. 

\  Page  153  of  this  vol. 

4  See  his  Eflay  on  the  Natural  Hiflory  of  Guiana,  p.  308. 


Chap.  VI.       ANTIENT   METAPHYSICS.  369 

reafoning  faculty ;  for  he  would  conclude,  from  comparing  the 
motions  of  nature  with  his  own,  that  there  muft  be  a  principle, 
which  performed  and  direded  thofe  motions,  infinitely  fuperior,  both 
in  wifdom  and  power,  to  that  principle  within  him,  which  produc- 
ed and  directed  his  motions. 

But,  as  from  the  ftudy  of  himfelf  man  formed  the  idea  of  a  God, 
it  was  natural,  and  indeed  neceflary,  that  he  fhould  fuppofe  the  God-, 
of  whom  he  had  formed  an  idea  in  the  manner  I  have  defcribed,  to 
be  a  being  fuch  as  himfelf,  compounded  of  body  and  mind,  though 
very  much  fuperior  to   him   in  both;  for  he  was  not  yet  fofar  ad- 
vanced in  the  exercife  of  intelleiSt,  as  to  have  formed  an   idea   of  a 
pure    intellidual   fubftance.     And,   accordingly,  we   find,   that   all 
the  Gods   of  the   Greeks,  as   they    are   defcribed   by   Homer,  had 
bodies  as  well  as  minds  ;  but  thefe  very  much  fuperior  to  thofe   of 
men  *  :     And  in  general  all  the  Heathen  Gods  were  fuppofed  to  be 
beings  of  that  kind,  and  were  fo  reprefented  in  their  ftatues.     But 
thofe  Gods  of  the  antients  were  truly  no  more  Gods  than  the  men 
whom  they  were  pleafed  to  deity  ;  tor  a  God   muft  be  a  pure  im- 
material fubftance,  entirely  feparated  from  matter  or  body.     Now,  to 
conceive  diftindly  fuch  a  fubftance,  requires  a  great  effort  of  the  hu- 
man intellect.     Every  idea,   as  1  have  elfewhere  obferved  *,  muft  at 
firft  be  formed  by  abftradlion:     And  as  all  our  ideas  are  firft  formed 
from  the  objeds  of  fenfe,  which  are  the  Iburce  of  all  our  knowledge 
in  this  ftate  of  our  exlftence,  it  is  necelfary  that  we  fliould  form  the 
idea   of  an  immaterial   fubftance,  by  abftradling  from  body  all   its 
qualities  of  ftiape  and  figure,  of  folidity  and  refiftance,  and  even  of 
parts.     Of  this  kind  of  abftradlion,  Euclid  has  given  us  an  example 
in  the  definitions,  which  he  has  prefixed  to  his  Elements,  where  he 
Vol.  IV.  3  A  feparates 

*  It  is  a  very  good  defcription  -which  Homer  gives  of  the  Greek  Gods  in  the  follow- 
ing line. 

T*ry  -rr'.^  xai  KSi^aiv  'sc^irn,    riui)  T£,  /3;i)  ts. 

-J-  Page  17.  of  this  volume. 


370  ANTIENT    METAPHYSICS.        Book  III. 

feparates  a  Surface  from  a  Solid,  Length  from  Breadth,  and  both  from 
what  he  calls  apoiut^  which  he  fays  is  without  parts.  But  a  Point 
has  pofition,  and  occupies  fpace  ;  whereas  an  immaterial  fubftance 
occupies  no  fpace  :  So  that  we  muft  make  one  abftradion  more  than 
Euclid  has  made.  And  at  the  fame  time  that  we  conceive  it  fo  dif- 
ferent from  body,  we  muft  alfo  conceive  it  to  be  of  much  greater 
excellence,  not  only  operating  in  a  way  quite  different  trom  body, 
but  doing  things  which  it  is  impoffible  that  body  can  do. 

That  men  muft  have  been  far  advanced  in  arts  and  fciences  be- 
fore they  could  have  made  fuch  abftraclions,  and  formed  an  idea  of 
a  fubftance  fo  remote  from  body,  and  of  fuch  fuperior  excellence, 
is  evident.  Even  the  Greeks,  when  they  were  fo  far  advanced  not 
only  in  arts  and  civility,  but  in  fcience  and  philofophy,  as  to 
have  formed  a  fchool  of  philofophy,  called  the  loiiick  fchool,  of 
which  Thales  was  the  founder,  had  not,  in  that  fchool,  got  the 
Idea  of  fuch  an  immaterial  fubftance  as  I  have  defcribed,  who 
formed  and  governed  this  univcrfe :  For  the  firft  philofophers  in 
Greece,  were  all  materialifts,  as  Ariftotle  informs  us,  till  Anaxagoras 
arofe  among  them,  who  firft  employed  mind  and  intelligence  to  fet 
every  thing  in  order,  and  therefore,  fays  Ariftotle,  talked  like  a 
fober  man  among  babbling  drunkards  *.  He  v^as  a  fucccftbr  of  Tha- 
les; but  at  that  time  the  fchool  was  above  ico  years  old.  He,  how- 
ever, ftill  retained  fo  much  of  the  prejudices  of  the  more  antient  phi- 
lofophy, that  after  things  were  once  arranged  and  difpofcd,  he  fup- 
pofed  that  they  went  on  by  matter  and  mechanifm,  and  accounted, 
as  Plato  informs  us  f,  for  all  the  phaenomena  of  nature,  from  va- 
pours, aethers,  and  fubtile  fluids. 

In  this  refpecl  he  very  much  rcfcmblcd  fome  of  our  modern  phi- 
lofophers, particularly  Sir  Ifaac  Newton,  who  accounts  in  that  way 

for 

*  See  preface  to  Vol.  III.  of  this  work,  p.  i  J. 
\  See  Vol.  I.  of  this  work,  p.  276. 


Chap.  YI.        ANTIENT  METArRYSICS.  371 

for  all  the  motions  in  the  univerfe,  even  the  motions  of  his  own 
body  ;  nor,  indeed,  does  he  appear  to  have  had  any  idea  of  motion 
by  mind.  But,  as  he  acknowledged  the  cxiftence  of  a  fupreme  intel- 
ligence, governing  this  univerfe,  he  cannot  be  fiiJ  to  he  an  Athieft, 
any  more  tlin.n  Anaxagcras:  but,  I  think,  he  ^yas  as  much  a  mate- 
rialift. 

That  Sir  If:;ac  had  not,  as  I  have  faid,  fo  much  as  the  idea  of 
mind  moving  body,  is  evident  from  the  different  caufes  which  he 
has  affigned  for  attradioii  or  gravitation,  ivb'tch,  he  fays,  proceeds 
from  the  a^ion  of  bodies  tending  t'jivards  one  another^  or  from  fpi- 
rits  emitted  from  thofe  bodies  agitating  one  another^  or  from  the 
aElion  of  athcrs,  air,  or  fonie  medium  corporeal  or  incorporeal,  im- 
pelling the  bodies  fivimming  in  it  towards  one  another  *.  Now,  I 
think.  It  is  impoffible  to  believe,  that  a  man  who  had  any  concep- 
tion of  mind  moving  body,  fhould  have  affigned  fo  many  ftrange 
caufes  for  that  motion,  fome  of  them,  I  think,  not  intelligible. 
But  as  he  did  not  believe  that  his  own  body  was  moved  by  mind,, 
of  which  we  have  as  ftrong  a  proof  as  we  can  have  of  any  thing,  1 
mean  confciotifnef,  it  was  no  wonder  he  did  not  believe  that  any 
other  body  was  fo  moved. 

Further,  he  fays,  that  not  only  our  animal  motions,  but  our  fen- 
fatlons,  are  produced  by  material  caufes,  fuch  as  others  and  fubtile 
fluids.  And,  I  think,  there  was  nothing,  that,  upon  his  principles, 
fhould  have  hindred  him  from  maintaining  that  our  ideas.,  as  well  as  our 
fenfations,  were  produced  by  inaterial  caufes,  according  to  an  antient 
philofopher  of  the  name  of  Strato  j".  And  here  I  muft  obferve,  that 
Sir  Ifaac  has,  in  one  particular,  carried  his  materialifm  farther  than  Tha- 
les,  the  founder  of  the  Ionic  fchool :  For  Thales  admitted  thut  the  mag-, 

3  A  2.  net 

*  Vol.  II.  of  t/iis  work,  p.  324. 
t  Vol.  III.  <yf  ibid.  p.  322. 


372  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.         Book  III. 

net  and  the  iron  were  moved  towards  one  another  hy  mind;  where- 
as, according  to  the  principles  of  Sir  Ifaac's  philofophy,  I  think,  it  is 
evident,  that  he  believed  no  body  to  be  moved  in  that  way :  So  that 
it  is  aethers  and  fubtile  fluids,  which,  according  to  his  philcfophy, 
move  magnetic,  eledri^al,  and  chemical  bodies;  and  move  them 
every  way,  not  only  towards  one  another,  but  from  one  another ; 
and  give  them  that  very  extraordinary  motion,  which  is  perceived 
in  fome  chemical  bodies,  and  has  fo  much  of  the  operation  of 
mind  in  it,  that  it  is  called  elcclive  attraElion ;  as  by  it  the  body, 
quiting  one  body  with  which  it  had  joined  itfelf,  attaches  itfelf  to 
another. 

I  have  faid  a  great  deal  of  the  philofophy  of  Sir  Ifaac  Newton  in 
the  three  firft  volumes  of  this  work,  to  which  I  refer  the  reader,  if 
he  would  defire  to  know  more  concerning  it ;  and  he  may  alfo  read 
fome  queries,  upon  the  fubjed,  which  I  have  put  in  volume  V.  of 
the  Origin  and  Progrefs  of  Language  *.  But,  I  think,  I  have  faid 
enou"-h  here  to  convince  him,  that  Sir  Ifaac  did  not  clearly  under- 
ftand  the  nature  of  an  immaterial  fubftance,  and  particularly  of  that 
immaterial  fubftance  which  is  the  author,  originally  or  immediately, 
of  all  the  motions  in  this  univerfe. 

As  I  have  fliown  in  what  country  arts  and  fciences  had  their  ori- 
oin,  I  think  it  is  proper,  that  I  Ihould  alfo  give  an  account  where 
rehgion  began.  And  it  is  my  opinion,  that  it  began  in  the  fame 
country  where  arts  and  fciences  had  their  origin;  with  which,  reli- 
gion, as  I  have  fhown,  is  neceffarily  connected.  This  country  is 
Egypt ;  and  if  the  reader  be  convinced,  by  what  I  have  faid,  that 
man  is  not  capable  of  religion,  till  he  has  formed  civil  fociety,  and 
has  made  fome  progrefs  in  the  ufe  of  intellect,  more  than  is  necef- 
fary  for  the  invention  and  pradice  of  the  neceflary  arts  of  life  ;  and 

if, 

*  Page  419  — 422. 


Chap.Vl.        ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  373 

if,  at  the  fame  time,  I  have  convinced  him,  that  Egypt  vpas  the  firfl: 
country  in  which  a  regular  polity  was  formed,  and  arts  and  fciences 
invented  and  cultivated,  he  can  have  no  doubt  that  it  was  alfo  the 
firft  country  of  religion.  This  Herodotus  has  told  us,  who  has 
faid,  that  the  Egyptians  were  the  firil:  who  gave  names  to  the  Gods, 
and  eredled  temples,  altars,  and  llatues,  to  them  *  :  And  Lucian, 
in  his  treatife  De  Dea  Syriac,  has  told  us,  that  tlie  Egyptians  were 
the  firft  of  men  who  had  any  idea  of  Gods,  built  temples  to  them, 
and  inftituted  Panegyrics,  and  other  folemn  afl'emblies  in  their  ho- 
nour. 

There  were  in  Egypt,  as  I  have  elfewhere  obferved  f,  two  reli- 
gions ;  the  one,  a  philofophical  religion,  which  was  the  religion  of 
the  Priefts,  and  which  they  muft  have  learned  from  their  Dxmon 
Kings;  the  other  the  vulgar  religion  of  the  country,  the  objedls  of 
which  were  thofe  Dxmons  themlelves,  whom  the  Priefts  fet  up  as 
the  Gods  that  the  people  were  to  worfhip. 

That  this  popular  religion  of  Egypt  went  to  the  Greeks,  who  got 
even  the  names  of  the  Gods  from  them,  is  a  fai£t  that  cannot  be  dif- 
puted.  But  it  was  only  the  names  that  went  to  Greece,  for  the  per- 
fons  of  the  Egyptian  Gods,  that  is  of  their  Dsemon  Kings,  never  went 
to  Greece  .  But  the  Greek  Gods  were  Greeks,  to  whom  they  gave 
the  names,  and  afcribed  the  adventures,  of  the  Egyptian  Gods.  It  is 
alfo,  I  think,  certain,  that  the  religion  of  Egypt  went  to  India,  along 
with  their  politvand  their  other  inftitutions.  And  Sir  William  Jones 
has  dlfcovered,  that  it  travelled  in  the  Eaft  as  far  as  China  and  Ja- 
pan, where,  he  fays,  there  are  ftatues  to  be  feen,  at  this  day,  of 
Ifis  the  Egyptian  goddefs,  who  is  ftill  known,  even  in  thofe  coun- 
tries, by  that  name.    And  befides  thoie  ftatues  of  Ifis,  there  are  bufts 

of 

*  Euterpe,  Cap.  4. 

f  Page  165.  of  this  volume. 


374  ANTIENT    METAPHYSICS.        Book  III. 

of  black  woolly  haired  men,  which  arc  to  be  feen  in  the  countries 
that  I  have  mentioned,  which  muft,  I  think,  be  memorials  of  Egyp- 
tians, who  taught  them  religion,  as  well  as  arts  and  fciences*.  And 
though  religion,  as  pradifed  in  Egypt,  may  not  have  gone  to  any 
other  country,  except  thofe  that  I  have  mentioned,  yet  I  am  per- 
luaded,  that  the  idea  of  Gods,  and  fuperior  powers,  v/as  propagated 
to  other  countries  in  the  fame  manner  as  their  language  was :  For, 
though  language  did  not  go  to  other  countries  as  it  v.-as  fpokcn  in 
Egypt,  yet  thofe  other  countries  got  from  Egypt  the  idea  of  forming 
articulate  founds,  and  fo  made  a  language  of  their  own,  with  a  mix- 
ture, no  doubt,  of  fome  words  which  they  may  have  heard  fpoken 
by  the  Egyptians,  or  by  people  who  had  learned  to  fpeak  from  the 
Egyptians;  and,  in  the  fame  manner,  other  nations  may  have  form- 
ed a  religion  different  from  the  Egyptian,  though  in  imitation  of 
it. 

One  general  obfervatlon  to  be  made,  upon  the  religion  of  thofe 
very  antient  times,  is,  that  it  always  fuppofes  a  plurality  of  Gods  ; 
for,  when  religion  was  hrft  eftablilhed  among  men,  they  were  not 
fo  far  advanced  in  the  ufe  and  exercife  of  intelled,  as  to  have  the 
idea  of  one  fupreme  God,  who  governed  this  univerfe,  and  of 
whom  all  thofe  other  beings,  whom  they  called  Gods,  were  only 
the  minifters. 

,  As  men  formed  their  firft  ideas  of  Gods  from  the  ftudy  and  know- 
ledge of  themielves,  they  would,  as  was  natural,  make  them  after 
their  own  image.  And,  accordingly,  they  gave  them,  as  I  have  faid, 
not  only  minds,  but  bodies,  and  confequently  organs  of  fenfe,  by 
which  they  faw  and  heard,  and  had  other  perceptions  of  fenfe.  And 
they  muft  have  fuppofed,  too,  that  their  minds  were  fuch  as  their 
own,  in  this  refpe£l:,  that  their  favours  were  to  be  gained  by  all  the 

marks 
*  Sec  tills  enlarged  upon  in  p.  307  of  this  volume. 


Chap.  VI.        ANTIENT. ^METAPHYSICS.  375 

marks  of  honour  and  refpedt  they  could  flicnv  them,  and  particularly 
by  offerings.  Theie,  at  firft,  were  the  fruits  of  the  earth,  and  parti- 
cularly the  firft  fruits  of  every  year.  Of  this,  the  memory  was  pre- 
ferved  in  Fgypt  in  later  times,  when  they  prefented  to  the  goddefs, 
His,  handfulls  of  the  firft  fruits  of  the  corn  of  every  year.  And,  in 
Greece,  the  memoiy  of  thofe  hloodlefs  offerings  was  preferved  in 
the  ifland  of  Delos,  where,  in  later  times,  there  was  ftill  to  be  feen 
an  altar  that  never  had  been  ftained  with  blood,  upon  which,  they 
offered  nothing  to  the  Gods  except  the  fruits  of  the  earth.  But 
when  men  began  to  eat  flefli,  and  efteemed  it  the  moft  valuable  part 
of  diet,  it  was  natural  that  they  ihould  prefent  to  their  Gods  facri- 
fices  of  animals.  And  this  '  was  thought  fo  much  a  relieious  duty 
that,  of  Gverj  animal,  which  they  killed  for  eating,  fome  part  was 
offered  to  the  Gods,  and  this  part  they  offered  before  they  beo-an 
to  eat  of  the  animal :  So  that  it  was  a  kind  oi primitiae,  which  they 
threw  into  the  fire  and  burnt  as  an  offering  to  the  Gods,  calling  it 
9vi}J.ov.  And  hence  it  is,  that  in  the  language  of  Homer,  to  kill  a 
beaft  for  eating,  is  Taid  to  be  ^rcoivav^  that  is  to  facrijice  it.  And 
by  the  law  of  INIofes  it  was  enjoined,  that  every  man,  that  killed  an 
ox,  a  lamb,  or  a  goat,  fnould  bring  it  to  the  door  of  the  tabernacle  to 
offer  it  as  an  offering  to  the  Lord  j  and  this  is  enjoined  under  the 
pain  of  death  *.  And  they  not  only  courted  their  favour,  by 
facrificing  fingle  animals  at  different  times,  but  by  hecatombs  of 
them  at  one  time,  upon  feme  particular  occafions.  And,  as  the 
more  precious  the  animal  was,  they  thought  the  facrifice  to  the 
Gods  would  be  the  more  acceptable,  they  carried  the  matter  fo 
far,  in  fome  nadons,  that  they  facrificed  even  animals  of  their  own 
fpecies,  and  fomeiimes  their  own  children,  which,  as  they  were  the 
deareft  to  them  of  all  things,  they  thought  would  be  the  moft  ac- 
ceptable to  the  Go  is.  And  as  thefe  Gods  had  the  fenfe  of  fmell, 
as  well   as   other  fenfes,  they  imagined  that  they  would  be  pleafed 

with 
*  Leviticus,  chnp.  17.  v.  3.  &c. 


376  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.        Book  III. 

with  the  fmell  of  their  burnt  offerings*,  which  afcended  to  the 
Ikies,  where  they  fuppoled  they  refided.  And,  as  their  facrifices 
were' accompanied  with  mufic,  they  thought,  that  the  ears  of  their 
Gods  were  entertained  in  that  way,  as  their  fight  was  by  ,nagnificent 
temples,  altars,  pomps,  and  proceffions,  and  by  numberlefs  rites  and 
ceremonies  which  accompanied  the  antient  worfhip.  And  the  legif- 
lators,  and  raagiftrates,  in  fome  countries,  particularly  in  Egypt, 
very  much  encouraged  a  worflilp  of  fo  much  pomp  and  fhow,  and 
accompanied  by  fo  many  rites  and  ceremonies,  becaufe  they  thought 
it  was  the  only  way  to  preferve  religion  among  the  people,  who 
muft  be  attached  to  it  by  their  fenfes,  and  not  by  their  reafon. 

In  return  for  thefe  oblations,  and  their  devotion  to  their  Gods, 
they  expeded  fuccefs  in  their  wars,  and  in  all  the  occupations  in 
which  they  were  employed ;  and,  as  the  fuccefs  of  thefe  depended 
very  much  upon  their  knowledge  of  future  events,  they  expeded 
that  their  Gods  were  to  inform  them  of  thefe  by  prophecies,  dreams, 
oracles,  aufpices,  or  the  entrails  of  beafts,  and  by  augury,  that  is, 
the  flight  of  birds.  And  in  this  way  a  kind  of  intercourfe  and  cora^- 
merce  was  carried  on  betwixt  thofe  antient  men  and  their  Gods. 

As  the  Jews  were  a  people  as  much  or  more  governed  by  their 
fenfes  than  any  other  nation,  it  was  neceflfary  that  Mofes  fliould  ef- 
tabliili  among  them  a  religion,  of  as  much  pomp  and  fplendor,  and 
of  as  many  rites  and  ceremonies,  as  any  of  the  Heathen  religions. 
And  there  was  another  reafon  alfo,  that  the  people,  who  had  been 
fo  long  in  Egypt,  and  fo  much  accuftomed  to  a  religion  of  that 
kind,  could  never  have  been  made  converts  to  a  i-ellglon  fo  fimple 
as  that  of  their  anceftbrs  tlie  Patriarchs  ;  but  if  Mofes  had  attempted 
to  give  them  fuch  a  religio'i,  they  would  have  revolted,  and  become 
idolaters,  like  the  Eg;  ptians   and  the   other  neighbouring  nations. 

Mofes, 

*  Levkhiis,  chap.  17.  v.  6. 


Chap.  VI.       ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  377 

Mofes,  therefore,  was  obliged  to  allow  them  temples,  altars,  facri- 
fices,  and  all  the  pomp  and  Ihow,  rites  and  ceremonies,  that  were 
pradlifed  in  Egypt  and  in  other  countries.  And  our  Scripture  tells 
us,  that,  on  account  of  the  hardnefs  of  their  hearts,  and  their  vio- 
lent propeniity  to  the  idolatry. of  other  nations,  God  gave  them  laws,. 
which  were  not  good,  but  to  which  it  was  necellary  to  fubjeft 
them  *.  This  reafon  for  the  Mofaical  religious  inftitutions  is  very 
well  enforced  by  Spencer,  in  his  moft  learned  work,  De  Ltgthus 
Hebraeorum;  where  he  has  fliown,  I  think,  very  evidently,  that  a 
more  fimple  religion  never  could  have  been  adopted  by  a  people, 
fo  grofsly  fenfual  as  the  Jews. 

It  is  this  charader  of  the  JewiHi  nation,  their  attachment  to  the 
pleafures  of  the  body  and  the  things  of  this  world,  without  appear- 
ing to  have  the  leaft  idea  of  a  life  to  come,  which,  I  am  perfuaded, 
was  the  reafon  why  that  life  and  /■.  mortality^  which  was  afterwards 
revealed  by  our  Saviour  to  them  and  to  all  mankind,  was  no  part  of 
the  Mofaical  religion.  If  he  had  preached  to  them  that  they  were 
to  live  after  their  death,  they  not  only  would  not  have  believed  him, 
but  it  would  have  difcredlted  all  the  reft:  of  his  dodtrine,  as  much 
as  the  abolifliing  the  facrifices,  and  the  whole  ritual  of  the  Egyp- 
tians and  other  Eleathen  nations,  would  have  done.  Mofes,  there- 
fore, accommodated  himfelf  in  this,  as  well  as  in  other  parts  of  his 
legiflation,  to  the  genius  of  the  people,  with  whom  he  had  to  deal, 
to  the  hardnejs  of  their  hearts^  and,  I  think  I  may  add,  to  the 
dulnefs  of  their  underftandings  f .      1  think,  therefore,  Biihop  War- 

VoL.  IV.  3  B  burLon 

*  '  Becaufe  they  had  not  executed  my  judgments,  but  had  defpifed  my  ftatutes,  and 
•  had  polluted  my  Sabbaths,  and  their  eyes  were  auer  their  fathers  idols  ;  Wherefore 
«  I  gave  them  alfo  ftatutes  that  were  not  good,  and  judgments  whereby  they  fhould  not 
'  live'.     Ezekiel,  chap.  20.  v.  24. 

•j-  Jofephus,  contra  Ap'wnem,  (lib.  2.),  tells  us  that  one  Apollonlus  faid  of  them, 
that  they  were  «^iiJT«Toi  t**  fix^iSx^ai,  fke  dullej}  of  all  Barbarians ;  and  that  they  alone 

had 


37«  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.         Book  III. 

burton  needed  not  have  given  hlmfelf  fo  much  trouble  to  account 
for  that  fingulariry  of  the  legiflation  of  Mofes,  that  he  did  not  in- 
force  the  religion  he  taught  the  Jews,  by  rewards  and  punifhments 
in  a  future  life,  as  was  done  by  other  legiflators  of  antient  nations, 
which  had  cultivated  their  underftandings  more,  and  had  made  great- 
er progrefs  in  arts  and  fciences. 

While  men  were  yet  in  the  natural  ftate,  or  but  little  advanced  in 
civil  life,  and  confequently  had  made  little  or  no  progrefs  in  the  cul- 
tivation of  arts  and  fciences,  by  which  the  human  inlelled:  is  im- 
proved, and  made  ht  to  form  the  idea  of  the  Supreme  Being,  the 
ftate  of  reUgion  could  not,  I  think,  have  been  other  than  fuch  as  I 
have  defcribed  *.  But  after  arts  were  further  improved,  fciences  in- 
vented, and  carried  up  to  philofophy,  and  even  to  the  fummit  of 
philoibphy,  1  njean  theology,  religion  began  to  wear  a  new  face. 

That 

had  never  invented  any  thing  ufeful  for  human  hfe.     And  even  the  Fathers  of  the 
Chriftian  church  give  the  iame   account  of  them;   particularly  St  Balil,  in  the  iirlt  of 
his  Hexamira,   fays,  That  it  was  probable  that  there  was  fomething  exifting  before  the 
Mofaical  world,  but  IMofes  did  not  relate  it,  becaufe  it  would  not  have  been  intelUgible 
T«if  «;ay(>,Ki»o  5  tri,  xMi  iiiTriii;  kktic  tijh  yKio-if,  that  is,  tG  his  own  countrymen,  who  were 
to  be  confiJered  as  infants  ysi  in  under/landing,  avd  only  beginning  to  learn.      And  to  the 
faine  purpofe,  St  Chryfoftom,  in  his  Second  Difcourfe  upon  Genefts,  fays,  That  Mofes, 
in  givihf  an  account  of  the  beginning  of  things  to  the  Jews,  who  were  unable  to  com- 
prehend any  thing  of  a  fpiritual  or  intelleftual  nature,  addreffed  himfelf  to  their  feuies; 
at  whid),  lays  he,  we  ought  not  to  be  furpriled,  as   he.  was  fpeaking  t<h;   %x)(,vr*i,oii 
li-JieKpi)  to  th^e  ^.Je^ff  tbe  dulle^  of -.mm..    See  upon  this  fubject  Burnet's  ^rchaie^jlagiq, 
p.  469.  and  470.     See  further,  upon  the  fubjeft  of  the  Jews,  what  Laftantius,  a  Chnl- 
t'ian 'author  who  lived  under  Conftantine  the  Emperor,  in  h's  InfAtutes,  (Lib.   4.  Cap. 
a.)  fays  of  them;  That  Pythagoras,  and  after  him  Plato  and  others,  went  every  where 
in  fearch  of  knowledge,  to  Egypt  particularly,  but  not  to  the  Jews      Ti\ib  fhows  the 
midake  of  thofe  authors  who  have  advanced  that  Plato  learned  the  dotSlrine  of  the  Tri- 
nity from  the  Jews ;  and,  indeed,  if  Plato  had  gone  among  them  to  learn  piiilofophy, 
they  could  not  have  reveale'    to   him  that   myllcry,  which  v/as  no  ;.3rt  of  the  doc- 
trine, that  Mofes  taught  the  Jews. 

*  Page  308.  ana  3 -,4. 


Chap.  VI.        ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  379 

That  all  arts,  fciences,  and  philofophy,  came  orighially  from  E- 
gypt,  I  have  proved  to  the  fatisfadtion,  I  hope,  of  my  readers. 
They  were  all  veiy  much  cultivated  there,  and  particularly  philofo- 
phy, which,  as  it  contaii  s  the  principles  of  all  Iciences,  may  he  fit- 
ly called  the  fc'ience  of  fciences.  And  as  they  were  fo  religious  a 
people,  it  would  have  been  very  extraordinary  if  they  had  not  ap- 
plied their  philofnphy  to  religion:  But  this  they  did;  and  according- 
ly they  had  a  philofophical  religion  as  well  as  a  popular  *.  Of  their 
popular  religion  I  have  already  ijioken,  and  fhown,  that  it  went  to 
Greece,  and  to  o.her  countries.  But  as  to  their  philofophical  reli- 
gion, it  was  only  :he  religion  of  the  philofophers  in  Egypt,  and 
Avas  kept  as  a  myftery  from  the  reft  of  the  people.  It  went,  how- 
ever, to  Greece,  but  ftill  in  the  Ihape  of  a  myftery;  for  it  was  com- 
municated to  fome  few  of  the  learned  Greeks  who  came  to  Egypt, 
and  they  communicated  it  to  a  very  few  cholen  men  of  their  coun- 
try, under  the  feal  of  inviolable  fecrecy  ;  and  the  dodtrines  of  this  re- 
ligion made  what  they  called  the  myf  cries,  greater  and  leifer.  Of 
thcfe  myfteries  Bifhop  Warburton  has  given  us  a  very  full  and  ac- 
curate account,  (for  which,  1  think,  the  learned  world  is  much  oblio-- 
ed  to  him),  in  his  lirft  volume  of  the  Divine  Legation  of  Mofes. 
They  came  to  Greece  from  Egypt,  as  Dr  Warburton  tells  us;  and, 
indeed,  they  could  come  from  no  other  country  :  And  they  main- 
tained, firft,  the  dodlrine  of  one  God;  then,  an  antecedent  ftate  of 
jnan,  in  which  he  was  much  happier  than  in  his  prefent  ftate,  and 
■^yhich,  I  find,  is  alfo  mentioned  by  Jamblichus,  the  Alexandrian 
philofophcr,  in  his  work  De  Myficriis  f  ;  and  likewife  a  future  ftate 
of  rewards  and  punilhments  :  And  to  thofe  who  were  mitiated  into 
the  greater  myftcries,  who  were  very  few,  it  was  revealed,  that  the 
Gods  of  the  popular  religion  were  mere  mortal  men. 

3  B  2  Thii 

*  Page  165.  and  373^of  this  vol. 
(  Page  176. 


jSo  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.         Book  III. 

This  was  the  moft  perfed  fyftem,  of  natural  religion,  that  ever 
was  among  men,  containing,  as  we  have  feen,  the  fundamental 
dodrines  of  our  revealed  religion  j  nor  do  I  think,  that  human 
reafon,  even  cultivated  as  it  was  among  the  Egyptians  by  arts  and 
fciences,  could  have  gone  farther. 

To  thofe,  who  were  initiated  into  the  greater  myfteries,  (which 
was  not  till  four  years  after  their  initiation  into  the  lefler;  for  thefc 
were  confidered  as  only  a  preparation  for  the  greater*),  was  reveal- 
ed that  great  myftery  of  the  Unity  of  God;  and  that  all  the  Gods 
of  the  Greeks  and  Romans  were  mere  mortal  men; — a  truth,  which 
the  Egyptians  did  only  reveal  to  thofe  who  were  to  govern  the  ftate, 
and  not  even  to  all  the  Priefts,  but  only  to  thofe  who'  were  moft 
approved  of  for  their  education  and  learning  f.  Thofe  who  were 
admitted  to  the  greater  myfteries,  were  accounted  the  happieft  of 
men;  and  were  faid  to  be  born  again,  and  to  begin  a  new  life,  being 
reclaimed  from  an  irrational  and  favage  life,  and  cultivated  and  miti- 
gated into  humanity^  as  Cicero  exprefles  it;  from  whence,  he  fays, 
thefe  myfteries  were  called  initia^  being  re  vera  i)rincipia  vitae,  the  be- 
ginning of  a  truly  rational  life ;  and  making  us  live  not  only  pleafantly 
in  this  life,  but  giving  us  the  hopes  of  a  better  life  hereafter  \.  Ifocra- 
tes,  in  his  Panegyric^  fays,  that  the  myfteries  are  the  thing  which  hu- 
man nature  principally  ftands  in  need  of  §.  And  Plato  has  faid,  that 
the  defign  of  Initiation  was  to  reftore  the  foul  to  that  ftate  from  whence 
it  fell,  as  from  its  native  ftate  of  perfedion  [[.  And  Proclus,  the  Alex- 
andrian philofopher,  tells  us,  that  the  myfteries  and  initiations  drew 

the 

*  See  Warburton's  Divine  Legation,  Vol.  I.  p.  182. 
f  Ibid.  p.  190. 

:j:  CIccro,  De  Legibus,  Lib.  2.  Cap.  14. — AVarburton,  uM  fiipra,  p.  2ro. 
^  W'arburton,  ubi  fiipra,  p.  213.  where  he  has  given  us  oi her  iiafla^'cb  from  an tient 
authors,  (hewing  the  happinefs  which  the  initiated  enjo/. 
11  Plato,  in  Phaedom  \  and  Warburton,  p.  172. 


Chap.  VI.        ANTIENT    METAPHYSICS.  3S1 

the  fouls  of  men  from  a  material,  fenfual,  and  merely  human  life, 
and  joined  them  in  communion  with  God.  And  not  only  did  the 
initiated  enjoy  intellecual  pleafures,  greater  than  other  men,  but 
even  the  pleafures  of  body,  which  nature  beftows  on  us,  fuch  as  the 
light  of  the  fun*. 

And  here  it  may  not  be  improper  to  obferve,  that  the  Egyptians  not 
only  invented  thofe  arts,  without  which  men  could  not  have  lived  in 
civil  fociety,  but  alfo,  that  we  owe  to  them  fciences  and  philoibphy,  in 
which  they  appear  to  have  excelled  all  the  nations  that  everexifted;^ 
Further,  that  they  applied  their  philofophy  to  the  mod  ufeful  purpofe 
in  human  life,  the  framing  a  good  form  of  polity,  the  belt  that  ever 
cxifted.  And,  laftly,  when  to  arts,  fciences,  and  philofophy,  they  add- 
ed fuch  a  religion,  by  which  they  provided  for  the  happinefs  of  men 
in  the  life  to  come,  as  much  as  they  could  do  by  the  light  of  natural 
reafon,  muft  we  not  allow  that  the  wifdom  of  the  Egyptians  deferves 
all  the  praife  which  our  Scripture  and  the  antient  Greek  writers 
bellow  on  itf,  and  that  they  were  truly  a  wonderful  people,  worthy 
of  being  chofen  by  providence  to  be  the  inventors,  the  depofitaries, 
and  the  propagators,  of  arts  and  fciences  all  over  the  world. 

This  philofophical  religion  of  Egypt  was  not  only  communicated 
to  certain  philofophers  of  Greece,  but  it  was,  by  fome  of  thofe  phi- 
lofophers,  committed  to  writing,  particularly  by  Plato,  who  has  given 
us  the  fame  pure  fyftem  of  Theifm,  revealed  to  the  initiated  in  the 
myfteries,  alfo  the  pre-exiilent  and  more  perfefl  ftate  of  man,  and 
a  future  ftate  of  rewards  and  punifliments.  There  was,  however, 
one  of  the  do£lrines  of  the  myfteries,  that  he  has  thought  proper 
not  to  publilli,  for  a  reafon  which  may  be  eafily  guefled  j — That  ail 
the  deities  worfhipped  by  the  people  were  mere  men. 

There 

*  Ibid.  p.  175.  t  Page  135. 


382  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.        Book  III. 

There  was  one  myftery,  however,  known  to  the  Egyptians,  though 
not  communicated  to  the  Greeks  in  their  initiations,  but  which  Plato 
learned  in  Egypt,  though  he  did  not  publifh  it  in  his  writings,  keeping 
it  as  a  myftery  which  he  revealed  to  a  very  few  of  his  followers.  The 
doSrine,  I  mean,  is,  that  of  the  Trinity.  But,  though  kept  as  a  fecret 
by  Plato  while  he  lived,  it  has  been  publifhed  fince  his  death,  and  is 
to  be  found  in  fome  of  the  writings  of  the  philofophers  of  the  Alex- 
andrian fchool,  who,  I  believe,  had  a  traditional  knowledge  of  the 
philofophy  both  of  Plato  and  Ariftotle  ;  and,  befides,  ^ve  are  fure 
that  they  had  the  ufe  of  books,  upon  the  fubjeft  of  philofophy, 
which  are  now  loft.  The  firft  perfon  of  Plato's  Trinity,  he  calls 
the  r^coroq  &io<;,  and  who,  he  fays,  is  ^vTr-.^ovanog^  that  is,  above,  or 
fiiptrior,  to  all  being.  And,  however  extraordinary  this  appellation 
may  appear,  I  think  it  is  perfedlyjuft;  for,  as  all  being  has  pro- 
ceeded from  him,  he  muft  be  fuperior  to  all  being,  and  fomething 
different  from  being,  as  the  caufe  muft  be  different  from  the  effedl. 
The  fecond  perfon  of  llato's  Trinity  is,  the  Not;;,  or,  as  it  is  called 
in  the  New  Teftament,  Aoy.c,  a  word  which,  in  claffical  Greek,  ex- 
preffes  what  is  different  from  no-js  :  For  it  denotes  the  operation  of 
the  Noyc,  either  internally  in  thinking  or  reaioning,  or  externally 
in  fpeech;  fo  that  it  is  either  the  Aoyoj  gc^/a^eroj,  or  A570J  it^jipo^tKoz. 
But  if  the  ufe  of  the  word  A05/0?,  in  our  New  Teftament,  be  not  claf- 
fical, the  tranflalion  we  have  given  of  it,  by  the  term  word,  is  ftill 
much  further  removed  from  the  word  Nou^,  which  ought  to  be  tranf- 
lated  by  the  Englifli  word  intelled ;  whereas  we  have  tranflated  it 
by  the  term  word,  that  is,  an  articulate  found,  uttered  by  the  human 
mouth,  fignificant  of  any  of  our  ideas.  This  is  a  tranflation  moft 
abfiird,  and  which  makes  the  dodtrine  of  the  Trinity  quite  unintel- 
ligible. But  to  return  to  Plato.— This  fecond  perfon  of  the  Trinity 
he  calls  the  hog  htjui'^v^yoi,  and  this  appellation  is  perfedly  agreeable 
to  our  Scripture  ;  for  it  fays,  that  by  the  Son,  which  is  the  name 
it  gives  to  the  fecond  perfon  of  the   Trinity,  all  things  were  made, 

and 


Chap.  VI.        ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  3^3 

and  without  him  nothhig  ivas  made.  The  third  perron  of  Plato's 
Trinity  is  the  -^vyri  rov  Kofffji^ou,  that  is,  the  animating  fpirit  of  the 
Univerfe,  called,  in  our  Scripture  language,  the  Ylvivf^a.  '"a.yio*,  and 
which,  in  our  tranflation,  we  call  the  Ho/y  GhoJI,  a  flrange  name  for 
the  Ho/y  Spirit ;  by  which  all  things  in  the  Univerfe,  formed  by  intel- 
ligence, that  is,  the  fecond  perfon  of  the  Trinity,  have  life  and  aftion, 
and  without  which  the  whole  creation  vv'ould  be  an  inanimate  mafs. 

That  this  Platonic  dodlrine  of  the  Trinity  is  the  fame,  with  the 
Chriftian,  I  think  is  evident,  and  fuch  was  the  opinion  of  the  fa- 
thers of  the  church  *. 

Dr  Warburton,  in  his  fecond  volume  of  the  Divine  Legation, 
maintains,  that  the  Greek  philofophers  did  not  believe  in  tJiofe 
religious  dodlrines  I  have  mentioned,  communicated  to  the  initiated 
in  the  myfteries,  particularly  not  in  a  ftate  of  future  rewards  and 
punilhments,  which  they  confidercd  as  a  doctrine  very  ufeful  in 
fociety,  and,  therefore,  were  at  pains  to  inculcate  it,  though  they 
did  not  believe  it.  But,  though  all  the  philofophers  of  Greece  did 
not  believe  in  a  future  ftate  of  rewards  and  punilliments,  particular- 
ly the  Epicureans,  who  entirely  denied  the  providence  of  God,  and 
whofe  Gods  they  faid  took  no  concern  in  human  affairs;  and  though 
fome  of  the  other  philofophers  do  not  appear  to  have  had  a  firm  be- 
lief upon  that  point,  yet  I  cannot  be  perfuaded,  that  the  initiated 
in  the  myfteries  did  not  believe  the  dodrines  they  learned  in  thofe 
myfteries;  and  much  lefs  can  I  be  perfuaded,  that  the  'Egyptian 
Priefts,  from  whom  the  Greeks  got  thofe  myfteries,  did  not  them- 
felves  believe  in  them,  but  meant  to  impofe  upon  the  creduiiry 
of  the  Greeks,  for  what  purpofe  is  not  eafy  to  lay.     The  Egyp- 

tiahs, 
*  See  St  Cyrillus  iri  his  3d  book  agaiii/J  iJk'  Emperor  JuDan;  arid  Eufebius,'  Prneparnth- 
Evatigeltca,  Cap.  14.— 20      See  alio  what  I  have  further  written  upon  the  fubjeft  of  the 
Trinity,  Vol.  I.  Origin  of  Language,  p.  7.  2d  edition.— Vol.  V.  p.  338.  and  344.  and 
Vol.  III.  c-5  tills  work,  p.  22. 


^4  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.         Book  111. 

tians,  as  Herodotus  tells  us,  firft  difcovered  the  immortality  of  the 
foul ;  and,  1  think,  by  the  natural  light  of  reafon,  efpecially  a  rea- 
fon  lo  much  cultivated  as  theirs,  by  arts  and  fciences,  the  Egyptians, 
if  they  applied  their  philofophy  to  religion,  which  they  certainly  did, 
and  had  a  philoibphical  as  well  as  a  popular  religion,  muft  have 
difcovered,  even  without  the  afliftance  of  their  Daemon  Kings,  not 
only  the  immortality  of  the  foul,  as  Herodotus  tells  us  they  did, 
and  a  future  ftate  of  rewards  and  punifhments,  but  all  the  other 
dodrines,  which  they  communicated  to  the  initiated. 

Befides  this  dodrine  of  the  Trinity,  Plato,  as  I  have  obferved  *, 
maintained  a  pre-exiftent  ftate  of  man,  and  a  future  ftate  of  rewards 
and  punifhments;  and  confequently  he  muft  have  believed  in  the 
immortality  of  the  foul:  And  the  fame  appears  to  have  been  the  doc- 
trine of  Ariftotle,  who  has  told  us,  that  our  intelledfual  mind  is  never 
in  fo  perfed  a  ftate  as  when  it  exifts  by  itfelf,  difencumbered  of  the 
body. 

This  religious  philofophy  went  from   Greece   to  Italy,  where  it 
was  much  cultivated  among  the  Romans  ;  fo  that  the  religion  of  the 
philofophers  of  Egypt,  that  is  the  Priefts,  was  in  this  way  fpread  over  a 
coniiderable  part  of  Europe.    But  ftill  the  popular  religion  of  all  the 
nations  of  the  earth,  (the  Jews  only  excepted),  continued  to  be  grofs 
idolatry ;  for  they  worftiipped  Gods  of  flefti  and  blood,  and  who  had  all 
the  paffions  belonging  to  men,  and  many  of  their  vices,  in  which  their 
worftiippers,  as   was  natural,  were  difpofed  to  imitate  them.     Then 
it  was  a  moft  bloody  religion,  being  accompanied  with  the  flaughter 
of  fo  many  of  the  animal  race,  which  muft  have  been  very  ofFen- 
fivc  to   a   gracious   God,  who  defires  the  prefervation   of  all  that 
race,   as   far   as    is    confiftent   with  the  general  fyftem  of  nature. 
With  fuch  a  religion,  it  was  impoifible  that  a  people  could  be  happy 

in 

•  Page  381. 


Chap.  VI.        ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  38^ 

in  this,  or  the  next  world,  whatever  the  cafe  of  a  few  philofophe-rs, 
among  them,  might  have  been.  A  better  popular  religion,  therefore, 
was  of  abfolute  neceffity  for  the  happinefs  of  man.  Although  the  popu- 
lar religion  of  Egypt,  which  had  come  iirft  to  Greece,  and  trom  thence 
to  the  other  nations  of  Europe,  ftill  continued  to  be  the  rehgion  of  the 
people  of  thefe  nations,  I  am  perfuaded,  however,  that  the  opinions 
of  the  philofophers  muft  have  been  known  to  many  of  them,  though 
they  did  not  apply  themi'elves  particularly  to  philofophy,  and  muit 
have  had  an  influence  upon  their  minds,  fo  as  to  difpofe  them  to  re- 
ceive a  better  religion. 

In  this  ftate  was  religion  when  our  Saviour  appeared  on  this  earth. 
While  men  were  in  the  ftate  of  nature,  and  wandering  about  foli- 
tary,  and  even  when  they  were  aflbciated  in  herds,  they  could  not, 
as  I  have  (hown*,  have  the  idea  of  a  God  ;  nor  even  in  the  firft 
ages  of  civility  could  they  form  any  proper  idea  of  the  Supreme 
Being:  So  that  when  we  find  a  nation  in  that  fituation,  having  any 
inch  idea  of  God,  we  fhould  conclude  that  it  got  the  idea  from  Ibme 
more  civilifed  nation,  with  which  it  had  an  intercourfe.  Such  was  the 
cafe  of  the  nations  of  North  Anierica,  and  of  the  people  of  Guiana  in 
South  America  f.  But  when  arts  and  fciences  had  made  fome  pro- 
grefs  among  men,  their  underftanding  was  thereby  fo  much  improv- 
ed, that  they  formed  the  idea  of  beings  exifting  fuperior  to  them- 
felves.  But  their  notions  of  fuch  beings  were,  as  I  have  fhown,  very 
grofs,  and  they  made  them,  as  was  natural,  very  like  to  themfelves±. 
But  when  they  had  made  farther  progrefs  in  arts  and  fciences,  and 
had  afcended  to  philofophy,  and  even  to  the  higheft  part  of  it,  the- 
ology, not  only  the  philofophers  would  be  difpofed  to  embrace  a 
better  religion,  but  even  the  vulgar,  from  what  they  muft  have 
heard  of  the  opinions  ,of  the  learned  among  them,  would  liften  to 

Vol.  IV.  3  c  the 

*  See  p.  367.  of  tnis  Vol. 
t  Ibid.  p.  368.  %  Page  384. 


386  ANTIENT    METAPHYSICS.        Book  III. 

the  dof^rines  of  that  better  religion,  which  would  fhow  them,  at  the 
faine  time,  the  abfurdities  of  the  religion  they  profelTed. 

Thus  it  appears,  that  the  Chrlftian  religion  is  founded  upon 
principles  of  philofophy,  fuch  as  are  formed  from  the  ftudy  of 
nature;  and,  indeed,  I  think  it  would  be  abfurd,  and  even  im- 
pious, to  maintain  that  there  is  any  thing  m  it  contrary  to  the 
eftablifhed  order  of  nature  and  the  fyftem  of  the  univerfe.  But, 
fo  far  from  that,  it  is  a  moft  philofophical  religion,  much  more  fo 
than  any  other  religion  that  ever  was  in  the  world;  and  it  was 
fit  it  fhould  be  fo,  as  philofophy  was  fo  far  advanced  in  the  world; 
nor  could  the  philofophers  have  believed  in  it,  if  it  had  not  been  ^ 
founded  on  principles  of  philofophy.  The  myftery  of  the  Trinity  is, 
as  I  fhall  {how  in  the  next  volume,  not  only  a  very  great  myftery  of 
religion,  but  of  philofophy,  as  it  not  only  explains  to  us  the  nature  of 
the  Divinity,  but  leads  to  the  knowledge  of  fuch  a  fyftem  in  the 
univerfe,  as  to  a  man,  who  is  philofopher  enough  to  comprehend  it, 
muft  appear  aftonifhing.  And  it  was  neceffary  that  this  myftery 
fhould  be  revealed  to  Chriftians,  as,  without  having  the  nature  of  the 
Divinity  thus  explained,  they  could  not  comprehend  how  our  Savi- 
our fhould  be  the  Son  of  God,  nor  could  they  have  any  idea  of  the 
third  perfon  of  the  Trinity,  the  Holy  Spirit. 

That  this  myftery  of  the  Trinity  was  revealed  to  the  apoftles, 
cannot,  I  think,  be  doubted,  as  they  were  not  philofophers,  and 
therefore  could  not  difcover  it  themfelves.  But,  I  believe,  the  E- 
gyptians  did  themfelves,  with  the  affiftance  of  their  Daemon  Kings, 
make  this  great  difcovery  in  philofophy,  which  afcends  to  the  very 
fummit  of  theology.  This  difcovery  they  communicated  to  Plato  ; 
and  their  was  another  difcovery  of  theirs,  which  they  alfo  com- 
municated to  Plato,  1  mean  the  do£lrine  of  ic/eas.  This  dodlrine 
I  have  no  doubt  that  Plato  brought  with  him  from  Egypt,  as  well 

as 


Chap.  VI.       ANTIENT   METAPHYSICS.  387 

as  that  of  the  Trinity,  with  which  I  fhall  fhow  that  it  has  a  neceflary 
connection,  and  that  both  together  make  a  wonderful  chain  of  beiags, 
reaching  from  the  firft  perfon  of  the  Trinity,  the  fource  of  all  being, 
to  the  loweft  beings  in  the  Univerfe. 

But  there  was  one  truth,  and  a  truth  of  great  importance,  which 
was  revealed  by  our  Saviour  to  the  world,  but  was  not  known  to 
the  Egyptian  or  Greek  philofophers.  It  was  this :  They  knew  there 
was  to  be  a  future  ftate  of  rewards  and  punifhments,  and  a  new 
world,  or  renovation  of  things,  a  TrocAtyyevea-ig^  as  they  called  it ;  but 
when  this  was  to  happen,  whether  foon  or  in  fonie  very  remote 
period,  they  knew  not.  But  our  Saviour  let  his  difciples  know  that 
it  was  not  far  off;  and  one  of  the  chief  purpofes  of  his  miffion  ap- 
pears to  have  been  to  give  this  information  to  the  human  race,  that 
they  might  be  prepared  for  the  change  in  their  ftate,  which  was  to 
happen  loon,  by  repenting  and  turning  from  their  evil  ways.  That 
this  was  part  of  the  revelation  of  our  Saviour,  is  clearly  proved  by 
many  texts  both  in  the  apoftles  and  the  epiftles  *. 

From  the  account  I  have  given  of  the  philofophy  of  the  Chriftiaa 
religion,  it  is  evident  that  it  was  a  religion  fitted  for  a  learned  age, 
fuch  as  the  age  of  Auguftus  C^efar  ;  but  could  not  have  been  pro- 
pagated in  an  unlearned  age.  Such  an  age,  the  apoftle  Paul,  in  his 
fpeech  to  the  Areopagus,  calls  the  limes   of  ignorance  f .     At  thefe 

3  C  2  times, 

*  St  Math.  chap.  16.  v.  28. — St  Mark,  chap.  9.  v.  i. — St  Luke,  chap.  9.  v.  27. 

Ibid.  chap.  21.  x.  32. — St  John,  chap.  21.  v.  22. —  ift  Corinth,  chap.  15.  v.  51. —  ift 
Theflalon.  chap.  4.  v.  15.  From  thefe  texts  it  may  feem  wonderful,  that  this  areat 
event  has  not  happened  in  the  fpace  of  1800  years.  But  this  is  no  reafon  to  make  us 
beheve  that  it  Is  never  to  happen;  For  a  thonf and  years  in  the  fight  of  God'  are  as  one  day. 
That  this  world,  or  at  leaft  the  race  of  man  jn  it,  is  drawing  to  an  end,  is,  as  I  fhall 
fhow  in  the  fequel  of  this  work,  a  truth  of  philofophy,  and  to  be  proved  both  bv  rea- 
fon and  argument,  and  by  faft  and  obfervation. 

f  A(5k  of  the  Apoftles,  chap.  17.  v.  30. 


J 


88  ANTIENT    METAPHYSICS.        Book  IIL 


times,  he  fays,  that  God  ivinkcd,  by  which,  I  underftand,  he  means, 
that  he  allowed  men  to  go  on  in  tliis  grofs  idolatry,  as  they 
were  then  capable  of  no  better  religion.  But  now  be  commandeth 
all  men  every  -where  to  repent^  that  is,  to  renounce  their  idola- 
trous religion,  and  to  receive  a  better.  And,  accordingly,  in  this 
fpeech,  St  Paul  gives  the  Athenians  a  fyftem  of  genuine  theifm,  tel- 
ling: them,  that  there  was  one  God  that  made  the  world  and  all 
things  therein,  feeing  that  he  is  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth,  dweUcth 
not  in  temples  made  with  hands,  neither  is  worf dipped  with  mens 
hands,  as  though  he  fieeded  any  thing,  feeing  he  givcth  to  all  life,  and 
breath,  and  all  things ;  and  hath  made  of  one  blood  all  nations  of  men, 
for  to  dwell  on  all  the  face  of  the  earth,  and  hath  determined  the 
times  before  appointed,  and  the  bounds  of  their  habitation  ;  that  they 
fhouldfeek  the  Lord,  if  haply  they  might  feel  after  him,  and  find  himy 
though  he  be  not  far  from  every  one  of  us  :  For  in  him  we  live,  and 
move,  and  have  our  being ;  as  certain  alfo  of  your  own  poets  have 
[aid.  For  we  are  alfo  his  offspring.  Forafnuch  then  as  we  are  the 
offspring  of  God,  ive  ought  not  to  think  that  the  Godhead  is  like  unto 
gold,  or  fiver,  or  flone  graven  by  art  and  mans  device.  Of  this 
God  it  appears,  that  even  the  vulgar,  and  thofe  of  the  popular  reli- 
gion in  Athens,  had  fome  idea;  for  St  Paul  informs  us,  that  they  had 
ereded  an  altar,  with  this  infcription,  to  the  unknown  cod,  who, 
St  Paul  fays,  was  the  God  that  he  declared  unto  thtm. 

Having  laid  down  in  this  manner  the  general  principles  of  The- 
ifm, he  favs  nothing  of  the  particular  dodrines  of  Chriftianity  except 
in  one  verfe*,  where  he  fays,  that  God  hath  appointed  a  day  in  the 
which  he  will  judge  the  world  in  rightcoufnefs ,  by  that  man  whom 
he  hath  ordained;  whereof  he  hath  given  affurance  unto  all  men,  in 
that  he  bath  raifed  him  fro7n  the  dead.  And  here  St  Paul  tells  us, 
that  when  they  heard  of  the  refurredlion  of  the  ditzA,fome  mocked,  and 

others 

*  Afts  of  the  Apoftles,  chap.  17.  v,  31, 


Chap.  VI.       ANTIENT   METAPHYSICS.  389 

others  faid,  isie  ivill  hear  thee  again  of  this  matter.  And  certainly  the 
refurre£tion  of  the  body  is  not  a  truth  of  natural  religion,  nor  of 
philofophy  ;  though  I  think  it  is  highly  probable,  that  the  Egypti- 
ans believed  in  it,  as  I  cannot  account  for  the  extraordinary  care 
they  took  to  preferve  the  bodies  of  their  dead,  otherwife  than  by 
fuppofing,  that  they  believed  they  w^ere  to  inhabit  them  again.  But, 
I  think,  there  can  be  no  doubt,  that  to  his  converts,  particularly 
Dionyfius  the  Areopagi'^e,  Paul  explained  and  inculcated  the  funda- 
mental dodlrines  of  Chriftianity,  fuch  as  that  of  the  Trinity,  with  the 
knowledge  of  which,  as  Paul  was  no  philofopher,  I  muft  fuppofe 
that  he  was  infpired.  The  eternal  getieration  of  the  Son  of  God,  fo 
that  the  Son  is  co-eternal  with  the  Father,  is  another  fundamental 
doctrine  of  Chriftianity.  It  is  a  neceffary  confequence  of  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Trinity,  and  would  be  eafily  explained  to  men  who  had 
the  leaft  tindure  of  philofophy,  and  could  diftinguifh  the  produc- 
tions of  natural  and  temporaiy  things,  from  the  productions  of  things 
divine  and  eternal :  Of  thofe,  the  caufe  producing  is  always  prior 
to  the  produftion;  whereas,  oi  thefe^  the  caufe  producing  and  the 
produdlion  being  both  eternal,  the  producfiion  mult  be  coeval  with 
the  caufe.  A  third  fundamental  doctrine  of  the  Chriftian  religion 
is,  the  incarnation  of  the  Son  of  God..  But  this  would  be  ftill  more 
eafily  explained  to  a  man  who  knew^  fo  much  of  himfeli  as  to  know, 
that  he  was  compounded  of  thn-e  natures,  the  vegetable,  the  ani- 
mal, and  the  intelledual.  To  thcfe  ihree  it  is  not  difficult  to  con- 
ceive, that  a  fourth  might  be  added, — the  divine  The  firft  three 
made  Jefus  Chrift  a  man,  and  a  man  only,  but  the  fourth  made  him 
more  than  man,  and  the  Saviour  of  the  world.  And  this,  1  think 
is  fufficient  to  fhow,  that  the  Chriftian  religion  is  a  leariied  and  phi- 
lofophical  religion,  fit  for  the  age  in  which  it  was  brought  into  the 
world. 


Thefe  are  the  dodrines  which,  I  fuppofe,  St  Paul  taught  his  difcipl 


es 
in 


390  ANTIENT   METAPHYSICS.        Book  IIL 

in  private,  t'hough  he  did  not  communicate  them  to  the  people  of 
Athens  in  the  Areopagus.  But  there  is  one  fundamental  dodirinc 
of  Chriftianity,  and  of  Theifm  in  general,  with  which  he  fets  out 
in  his  fpeech  to  that  aflembly;  and  that  was  the  Unity  of  the  God- 
head :  There  was  one  God^  he  fays,  that  made  the  world  and  all 
things  therein  ;  feeing  he  is  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth,  &c.  jind  this 
•was,  he  fays,  the  unknown  God,  to  ivhom  they  had  ere£fed  an  altar, 
and  who  was  the  God  that  he  declared  unto  them.  By  this  dodlrine, 
of  one  God,  St  Paul  meant  to  put  an  end  to  that  Polytheifm,  which 
was  univerfal  in  all  the  Heathen  nations,  and  particularly  among 
the  Athenians,  who,  as  St  Paul  fays,  were  too  fuberflitions ;  more 
fo,  I  think,  than  other  Heathen  nations,  as  appears  from  the  altar 
dedicated  To  the  unknown  God;  fuch  as,  I  believe,  was  not  to  be 
found  in  any  other  nation  in  the  world.  Of  this  altar  St  Paul  makes 
a  very  good  ufe,  and  lets  them  know,  that  the  unknown  God,  to 
whom  they  dedicated  the  altar,  was  the  one  God,  who  had  made 
the  heaven  and  earth,  and  all  things  therein.  And  it  was,  as  I  have 
faid,  a  fundamental  doctrine  of  Chriftianity,  that  Jefus  came  from 
this  one  God,  not  to  eftablifh  different  religions  in  different  coun- 
tries, but  to  give  one  religion  to  all  mankind,  by  which  they  were 
to  be  faved,  if  they  would  embrace  that  religion,  and  conform  them- 
felves  to  the  precepts  of  it:  So  that  the  miffion  of  Jefus  was  not, 
like  the  miffion  of  Mofes,  to  one  people,  but  to  all  the  people  of  the 
earth;  and,  therefore,  the  world,  in  confequence  of  this  miffion,  as 
it  had  but  one  God,  was  to  have  but  one  religion;  and  not  to  be  di- 
vided into  many  local  and  territorial  religions,  of  which  there  were 
many  different  deities  even  in  the  fame  country. 

I  am  nov^  to  fnow,  that  it  was  not  only  a  learned,  philofophical 
religion,  but  a  religion  for  the  people,  and  more  fitted  lo  make  them 
virtuous  and  happy,  both  in  this  life  and  the  next,  than  any  religion 
t^iat  ever  was  among  men; — In  fliorr,  that  it  was  a  popular  religion 

of 


CHap.  VL       ANTIENT    METAPHYSICS.  391 

of  the  beft  kind  poflible,  a  religion  that  was  entirelywanting  on  this 
earth,  as  I  have  obferved,  when  ou»  Saviour  came  to  it. 

The  fundamental  principle  of  this  praElical  religion,  as  It  may 
be  called,  is  the  love  of  God  and  of  man.  We  are  commanded  to 
love  the  Lord  our  God  with  all  our  hearts,  aud  'with  all  our  Jouls, 
and  lulth  all  our  Jlrengthsy  and  ivlth  all  our  minds,  and  our  neigh- 
bour as  ourfelves  *.  Where  the  reader  may  obferve,  from  the  num- 
ber of  words  employed  in  delivering  this  precept,  how  earneftly 
it  is  enforced.  And  again  our  .Saviour,  when  he  takes  leave  of  his 
difciples,  lays,  A  neiv  commandment  I  give  unto  you,  7 hat  ye  love 
one  another ;  as  I  have  loved  you,  that  ye  alfo  love  one  another  f . 
By  this  being  called  a  new  commandment,  1  underftand  is  meant,  that 
it  was  not  commanded  by  any  other  religion  ti^en  in  the  world: 
And,  accordingly,  it  is  added  in  the  following  verfe.  By  this  JI3 all 
all  men  know  that  ye  are  my  difciples,  if  ye  have  love  one  to  another  ; 
which  is  plainly  faying,  that  this  love  Vv^as  the  diftinguifhing  mark 
of  their  religion.  The  Chriftlan  religion  is,  therefore,  more  a  reli- 
gion of  love,  than  any  religion  that  is,  or  ever  was,  in  the  world  J. 
Now,  love  is  the  nobleft  of  all  our  paffions;  for  the  objed  of  it  is 
beauty,  worth,  and  goodnefs,  in  fliort,  every  quality  that  is  eftima- 
ble   or  amiable  :    And  the  greateft  happlnefs  we  can  enjoy  in  this 

life, 

*  Luke,  chap.   lo.  v.  27. 
f  St  John,  chap.    13.  v.   34. 

X  See  what  I  have  further  faid  of  this  predominant  quahty  in  the  Chriftian  religion 
in  Vol.  IV.  of  Origin  of  Language,  p.  367.  and  following;  where  feveral  other  texts 
of  the  New  Teftamcnt  are  quoted  to  prove  it ;  and  particularly,  ift  Corinth,  chap.  13. 
where  the  word  aya^r^,  which  fignifies  Love,  is  very  improperly  exprefled  in  our  tranf- 
lation  by  the  word  Charity.  Now,  of  the  three  Chriftian  virtues,  Faith,  Hope,  and 
Charity,  or  Love,  as  it  fliould  be  tranflated,  Love  is  the  greateft.  ( i  ft  Corinth,  chap, 
13.  V.  13.)  And  one  text  is  quoted,  p.  370.  which  fays.  That  perfetl  love  ai/leth  out 
fear.  Now,  the  objeft  of  fuch  a  love,  can  be  nothing  but  beauty  ,•  or  the  beauty  of  boli- 
nefs,  as  it  is  called  in  our  Scripture  language. 


392  ANTIENT    METAPHYSICS.        Book  III. 

life,  is  to  love  and  to  be  loved  ;  and  yet  the  depravity  of  men,  in 
modern  times,  is  fuch,  that  this  religion  of  love  has  given  occafion 
to  perfecutions,  civil  wars,  murders,  and  mafTacres,  fuch  as  no  re- 
ligion, in  antient  times,  ever  produced  *  ;  which  has  made  our  Savi- 
our fay,  That  he  came  not  to  bring  peace  to  the  earth,  but  a  fword  '\. 

There  is  another  fundamental  tenet  of  the  Chriftian  religion,  and 
which  contains  a  mod  important  truth,  both  of  religion  and  philo- 
fophy,  being  that  upon  which  the  happinefs  of  man  in  the  next 
'world  muft  depend,  and  I  may  add  alio  in  this.  It  is  this,  that 
we  are  but  fojourners  or  palTengers  in  this  life,  and  that,  therefore, 
we  can  expedl  no  fixed  or  permanent  happinefs  in  it,  but  muft  look 
foreward  to  the  next,  where  we  muft  be  happy  or  miferable  accord- 
ing to  our  behaviour  here.  This  is  a  do£lrine  which  our  Sa- 
viour very  much  inculcates,  telling  his  difciples  again  and  again.  That 
his  kingdom  ivas  not  of  this  world;  and  it  is  a  dodtrine  that  would 
be  readily  liftened  to  by  philofophers,  who  believed  in  the  immor- 
tality of  the  foul,  and  in  a  future  ftate  of  rewards  and  punilhments. 
Plato  fays  that  the  chief  fubjed  of  the  meditation  of  a  philofopher, 
and,  as  I  underftand  him,  the  moft  pleafant  fubje£t,  is  death,  by 
Avhich  he  is  to  be  difencumbered  of  this  prilon  of  flefti  and  blood, 
aiid  reftored  to  the  enjoyment  of  his   intellectual  mind,  without 

being 

*  See  the  works  of  the  Emperor  Julian,  Epift.  52.  where  we  have  an  account  of 
men  having  their  eftates  confifcated,  being  driven  into  exile,  and  many  of  them  put  to 
death,  on  account  of  their  religious  belief ;  and,  for  the  fame  reafon,  whole  villages 
in Tevcral  countries  which  he  names,  defolated  and  laid  wafle.  And  the  fubjedt  of 
difpute  was  the  myftery  of  the  Trinity,  of  which  it  was  impofllble  that  the  vulvar 
could  think  jufvly,  or  agree  in  opinion,  if  they  thought  of  it  at  all.  Even  fome  of 
the  Fathers  of  the  church  did  not  undcrlland  it;  and  particularly  St  Au^ufline,  thouu'i 
he  fludied  it  very  much,  and  has  written  15  books  upon  the  fubje(£l:,  was  fo  far 
from  underflanding  it,  that,  in  his  fifth  book,  De  Trwitate,  cap.  9.  he  fays,  that  there 
were  not  three  perfons  only  in  the  Trinity,  but  that  there  mioht  be  any  other  numlser. 

f  St  Math.  chap.  10.  v.  34. 


Chap.  VI.        ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS. 


393 


being  diflurbed  by  the  many  wants  and  avocations  of  his  animal 
life.  Deaths  therefore,  fo  far  from  being  an  objed  of  terror  to  fuch 
a  philofopher,  is  to  be  wifhed,  and  earneftly  defired,  by  him.  Of 
this,  Plotinus,  an  Alexandrian  philolopher,  whofe  life  Porphyry 
has  written,  was  a  remarkable  example  ;  for  when  he  was  advanced 
in  years,  but  long  before  he  died,  he  wifhed  earneftly  for  death, 
though  he  would  not  ufe  any  means  to  procure  It ;  thinking  that 
he  was  bound  to  keep  the  ftation  allotted  to  him  in  this  life,  as  long 
as  it  pleafed  his  Maker,  who  had  put  him  there.  And  if  an  Heathen 
philofopher  is  not  afraid  to  die,  but  on  the  contrary  wifhes  it,  much 
more  will  a  good  Chriftlan  :  And,  accordingly,  St  Paul  calls  out 
with  a  kind  of  enthufiafm,  "  Who  ihall  deliver  me  from  the  body 
"  of  this  death  *." 

Thus,  I  think,  1  have  fhown,  that  our  Saviour  came  in  fulnefs  of 
time,  as  it  is  very  well  exprefled  in  Scripture;  that  is,  juft  when  it 
was  proper  for  him  to  come,  and  not  fooner; — when  men  were  fo 
far  advanced  in  arts,  fciences,  and  philofophy,  as  to  be  able  to  com- 
prehend, and  be  difpofed  to  embrace,  fo  fublime  a  religion.      If  he 
had  come  fooner,  that  is  in  the  days  of  ignorance^  as   the   apoftle 
exprefTes  it,  I  am  perfuaded  the  falvation  he  offered  would  not  have 
been  well  received.     This  is  evident  from  the  difficulty  that  is  found 
to  make  converts  among  the  barbarous  nations.     The  Moravian  Mif- 
fionaries  were  feven  years  in  Greenland   without  making  one  con- 
vert; and,  I  am  afraid,  they  have  not   yet   made   many.     A  com- 
pany of  them,  as  I  am  informed,  went  to  Guinea;  but  they  all  died, 
without  making  one  convert,  as  far  as  I  could  learn.     But  the  Jews 
themfelves  furnifh  the  ftrongeft  evidence  of  the  neceflity  of  arts  and 
fciences,  for  making  men  fit  to  embrace  the  Chriftian  religion.     Je- 
fus  Chrift  lived  among  them  and  wrought  very  many  miracles,  fuf- 
ficient,  one  fliould  think,  to  liave  convinced  the  moft  obftinate  un- 

VoL.  IV.  y  D  believers. 

*  Romans,  chap.  7.  v.  24. 


J94- 


ANTIENT   METAPHYSICS.       Book  III. 


believers.  He  fufFered  martyrdom  alfo  among  them,  and  was  raifed 
from  the  dead.  Yet  the  apoflJes  made  many  fewer  converts  among 
tliem,  than  among  any  of  the  Gentiles :  So  far,  indeed,  from  be- 
ing converted  themfelves,  they  oppofed  moft  vehemently  the  pro- 
grefs  of  the  apoftles  among  the  Gentiles,  as  is  evident  from  many 
pafTages  in  the  Ads  of  the  Apoftles,  and  particularly  from  one, 
where  it  is  recorded,  that  when  Paul  was  in  Lyftra,  a  city  of  Lyca- 
onia  in  Afia,  and  was  going  on  moft  fuccefsfuUy  in  converting  the 
inhabitants,  there  came  Jews  from  Antioch  and  Iconium,  who  raifed 
the  people  againft  this  apoftle,  and  having ^oned  Paul,  drew  him  out 
of  the  city,  fuppo/ing  he  had  been  dead  *.  And  the  reafon  was,  that, 
being  naturally  a  very  dull  people,  as  they  are  reprefented  even  by 
the  fathers  of  the  church,  and  altogether  unlearned,  they  were  fo 
obftinately  attached  to  the  Mofaic  law,  and  all  its  forms  and  cere- 
monies, (a  yoke,  which,  as  Peter  faid,  in  the  council  of  the  apoftles 
and  elders,  neither  they  nor  their  forefathers  were  able  to  bearf ,  and 
which  was  impofed  upon  them,  on  account  of  the  hardnefs  of  their 
hearts,  and  their  propenfity  to  idolatry),  that  they  could  not  bear  a 
religion  which  laid  afide  all  thofe  forms  and  ceremonies,  fo  many  in 
number,  and  required  nothing  but  a  worfliip  from  the  heart  in  fpirit 
and  truth.  And  there  was  another  dodtrine  of  Chriftianity,  to  the 
belief  of  which,  I  am  perfuaded,  they  were  averfe;  and  that  was,  the 
immortality  of  the  foul  and  a  future  ftate  of  rewards  and  puniftiments. 
This  do£lrine  was  not  taught  them  by  Mofes,  for  the  fame  reafon 
that  he  did  not  teach  them  many  other  things,  the  hardnefs  of  their 
hearts,  and  the  dulnefs  of  their  underftanding,  which  made  them 
incapable  to  comprehend  how  they  could  live  after  they  were  dead. 
The  promifes,  therefore,  and  threatnings  in  the  Legiflation  of  Mo- 
fes, are  all  confined  to  the  things  of  this  life,  which  they  could 
readily  comprehend :   Whereas  the  doctrine  of  the  Gofpel  is  quite  the 

contrary  j 

*  Afts  of  the  Apoftles,  chap.  14.  v.  19. 

t  Ibid.  chap.  15.  v,  10. 


Chap.  VI.      ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  395 

contrary;  for  by  It  we  are  diredled,  as  I  have  faid,  to  put  our  trufl; 
entirely  in  the  life  to  come,  and  not  at  all  in  the  things  of  this  life. 
It  was,  therefore,  to  thcfe  only  that  the  Jews  looked,  wifhing  and  hop- 
ing that  the  kingdom  of  Ifrael  fhould  be  reftored  to  its  antient  inde- 
pendent fituation,  the  greateft  happinefs  they  thought  they  could 
enjoy.  And,  at  this  day,  when  Chriftianity  is  the  religion  of  Eu- 
rope and  of  fome  part  of  Afia,  they  continue  unbelievers,  and  are  in 
the  moft  lingular  fituation  that  any  nation  ever  was  in;  for  they  arc 
difperfed,  I  may  fay,  all  over  the  world,  and  yet  continue  a  nation 
without  a  country,  and  ftill  obflinately  attached  to  their  religion, 
cuftoms,  and  manners. 

I  have  already  obferved  ''••,  that  the  Heatlien  religion,  was  very 
djftru£live  of  the  animal  race,  by  offering  fo  many  of  them  to  be 
facrificed  to  the  Gods.  This,  I  have  faid,  mufl  certainly  have 
been  very  ofFenfive  to  a  wife  and  good  God,  who  mull  be  fuppofed 
to  defire  the  prefervation  and  happinefs  of  the  whole  race  of  animals, 
as  far  as  is  confident  with  the  general  fyftera  of  nature.  But  as 
intelligence  muft  always  adl  according  to  fyftem,  and  the  Supreme 
InteUigenc  emore  than  any  other,  fo  in  the  progrefs  of  man,  in 
religion  as  well  as  in  other  things,  we  fee  that  every  thing  went  on 
in  regular  order;  fo  that  man  could  not  at  once  attain  to  true 
religion,  but  muft  have  formed  one  fuitable  to  the  degi-ee  of  intelli- 
gence which  he  had  acquired.  And  as  there  was  nothing  more 
natural  than  his  believing  that  his  offering  to  his  Gods  what  he 
efteemcd  moft  valuable,  would  render  them  propitious,  from  thence 
arofe  thofe  facriiices  of  animals,  even  by  hundreds,  which  he  made, 
and  burnt,  that  the  odour  might  afcend  to  the  (kics,  vvhere  he  fup- 
pofed the  Gods  dwelt. 

This  enormity  God  "winked  at  (as  the  apoftle  fays)  In  the  days  of 
ignorance,  and  tolerated  even  in  his  chofen  people  the  Jews,  among 

.3  E>  2  Tvlioni' 

*  Page  384. 


-$^  ANTIENT   METAPHYSICS.        Book  III. 

whom  very  many  animals  were  facrificed  upon  different  occafions ; 
for  this  rite  of  worfhip  was  fo  univerfally  pradifed  among  all  the 
nations  in  their  neighbourhood,  and  they  had  been  fo  much  accuf- 
tomed  to  it  while  they  were  in  Egypt,  that,  if  Mofes  had  prohibit- 
ed it,  they  would  not  have  received  his  laws,  but  would  have  con- 
formed to  the  general  practice,  and  have  offered  facritlces  to  the 
idols  of  the  nations.  And  Mofes,  in  this  as  well  as  in  many  other 
articles,  appears  only  to  have  changed  the  obje£l  of  the  worfhip, 
not  the  rites  and  ceremonies  of  it,  as,  I  think,  Spencer  has  very  clear- 
ly fhown  in  his  work  above  quoted;  and,  indeed,  I  think,  that,  with- 
out changing  the  courfe  of  nature,  and  the  general  rules  of  the  fyf- 
tem  of  the  human  fpecies,  by  which  they  muft  make  a  regular  pro- 
grefs  in  religion,  as  well  as  in  other  things,  God  could  not  have 
adted  otherwife  with  refped  to  the  Jews. 

But  our  Saviour  having  come  in  the  fulnefs  of  t'line^  when  the 
minds  of  men,  by  the  progrefs  they  had  made  in  arts  and  fciences, 
were  prepared  to  receive  a  better  religion,  facrifices,  as  well  as  many 
other  rites  and  ceremonies,  were  laid  afide  altogether,  and  a  pure 
religion  was  eftablifhed,  by  which  the  true  God  was  to  be  worftiip- 
ped  in  fpirit  and  in  truth,  not  by  the  works  of  mens  hands ^  as  the  apof- 
tle  fays  *.  At  the  fame  time,  I  am  not  of  opinion,  that  all  the  rites 
and  ceremonies  of  the  Pagan  worfhip  were  ordained  by  the  gof- 
pel  to  be  laid  afide.  And  particularly  one  part  of  their  worfhip,  I 
mean  mufic,  is  very  properly  continued  in  the  Chriflian  church ; 
not  becaufe  we  are  to  fuppofe  that  God  is  pleafed  or  entertained 
with  our  mufic,  but  becaufe  mufic,  if  it  be  proper  church  mufic, 
muft  have  a  great  effedl  upon  the  minds  of  men,  (who  muft  be  go- 
verned more  or  lefs  by  their  fenfes),  in  exciting  them  to  devotion. 
And,  accordingly,  as  I  have  elfewhere  obfervedf,  it  was  chiefly  by 

mufic, 

•  Ai^s  of  the  Apoftles,  chap.  17.  v.  24.  and  29. 

f  Page  95.  and  lOi.  of  this  vol. 


Chap.  VI.       ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  397 

mufic,  that  the  mofl:  favage  people  we  read  of,  the  Paraguayfe,  were 
converted  to  Chriftianity  ;  and,  I  am  perluaded,  if  it  were  more 
ufed  by  the  MiiTionaries,  among  the  barbarous  nations,  they  would 
fucceed  better. 

As  to  the  time  when  our  Saviour  came  to  eftablilh  his  religion  on 
this  earth,  I  have  obfers'^ed  that  it  was  in  xhtfulnefs  of  time,  accord- 
ing to  Scripture  language,  with  refpe£t  to  arts  and  fciences ;  and  I 
will  now  fhow,  that  it  was  alfo  in  fulnefs  of  time  with  regard  to  the 
ftate  of  the  human  ipecies  at  that  time.  That  men  are  at  prefent 
very  much  degenerated  both  in  mind  and  body,  and  that  they  live 
in  fuch  a  way  that  their  numbers  are  daily  decreafmg,  I  think,  I  have 
clearly  proved  in  the  third  volume  of  this  work.  As  to  numbers, 
I  think,  I  will  prove  very  clearly  in  the  fequel  of  this  work,  that 
they  are  decreafed,  and  continually  decreafmg  fo  much,  that,  in 
not  very  many  generations,  the  fpecies  mufl  die  out,  though  it  were 
not  to  be  deftroyed  by  any  convulfion  of  nature,  fuch  as  is  fore- 
told in  our  facred  books.  Now,  this  degeneracy  of  man,  and  de- 
folation  of  the  earth,  was  begun,  and  had  gone  on  for  many  years, 
before  the  days  of  Auguftus  Cxfar.  The  great  empires  of  the  Af- 
fyrians,  Medes,  Perfians,  and  Macedonians,  no  longer  exifled.  Of 
all  thofe  antient  empires,  none  remained  but  the  Roman,  which  was 
eftablillied  at  a  great  expence  of  the  human  fpecies,  even  in  Italy 
itfclf,  the  feat  of  that  empire  ;  for  Italy  was  fo  much  depopulated, 
that  colonies  were  brought  from  other  countries  to  repeople  it; 
and  particularly  Conftantine  the  Emperor  fettled  there  300,000  Sar- 
matians*.  As  to  arts  and  fciences,  they  were  likewife  upon  the  de- 
cline. Egypt,  once  the  fountain  and  feat  of  all  arts  and  fciences,  from 
which  they  were  propagated  all  over  the  world,  and  which,  at  one 
time,  was  the  beft  governed  country  that  ever  exifted,  had  become, 
in  the  days  of  Auguftus  Cxfar,  a  Roman  province,  not  famous  for 
arts  and  fciences,  nor  for  any  thing  elfe.     Greece  was  no  longer  the 

country 
*  Vol.  V.  of  Origin  of  Language,  p.  25. 


39S  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.         Book  III. 

country  that  it  had  been;  and  though  its  inhabitants  ftill  preferved  arts 
and  fciences  among  them  to  a  certain  degree,  yet  they  were  not  fuch 
as  had  been  in  former  times.  And  as  to  the  Romans,  what  arts  and 
fciences  were  among  them,  they  had  learned  from  the  Greeks,  but 
never  earned  them  to  fuch  perfedtion  as  the  Greeks  did.  With  refpedt 
to  the  arts,  they  never  had  painters,  ftatuaries,  or  fculptors,  of  any  note ; 
nor  were  they  eminent  in  any  fcience  that  I  know:  And  as  tophilo- 
fophy,  they  had  not  fo  much  as  a  fchool  of  it.  Nor  were  men,  at 
that  time,  improved  in  morals  any  more  than  in  arts  and  fciences  ; 
but,  on  the  contrai-y,  there  was  a  general  corruption  of  manners,  in 
every  nation  then  known,  more  or  lefs,  and  particularly  among  the 
Romans,  as  their  own  hiftorians  inform  us.  That  things  have 
grown  better  fmce  the  days  of  Auguftus  Caefar,  no  body  will  affirm; 
but,  on  the  contrary,  vice  and  difeafe  have  greatly  increafed,  and  de- 
population, within  thefe  laft  four  or  five  hundred  years,  has  gone  on 
to  a  furprifing  degree,  not  only  in  the  countries  known  in  antient 
times,  but  in  a  new  world  unknown  to  the  antients^  there  has  been 
fiich  depopulation,  as  there  is  no  example  of  the  like  in  the  hiftory 
of  man.  And  as  to  arts  and  fciences,  by  learning  tnofe  of  the  anti- 
ent world,  we  confefs  how  much  we  are  fallen  off  in  that  article. 

Such  being  the  Hate  of  man  at  the  time  that  our  Saviour  came 
to  the  world,  it  was  very  proper  that  he  fhould  let  them  know  that 
there  would  be  foon  a  change  of  this  fcene  of  man,  for  which  they 
ought  to  prepare  themfelves  by  a  religious  and  virtuous  life  :  And 
to  confidev  this  life  as  a  tranfient  ftate  of  Unal  and  probation,  which 
was  foon  to  have  an  end ;  and,  therefore,  not  to  look  for  any  per- 
manent happinefs  in  it,  but  to  put  their  truft  in  the  life  to  come ; 
which,  as  I  have  faid*,  is  a  principal  doctrine  of  the  Chriftian  re- 
ligion. 

As 
■  Page  387.  and  392- 


Chap.  VI.       ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.  399 

As  the  Jews  were  a  people  chofen  by  God,  and  kept  diftlnguiih- 
cd  and  feparated  from  all  other  nations,  and  as  they  were  the  only 
people  then  on  the  earth,  who  believed  in  one  God,  the  Creator  of 
heaven  and  earth,  it  was  proper  that  our  Saviour  fhould  be  of  that 
nation  :  So  that  the  prophecies,  which  foretold  that  the  Meffiah 
was  to  be  of  that  nation,  might  be  fulfilled  in  him.  Accordingly, 
he  was  born  in  JeruHilem,  and  his  mother,  the  Virgin  Mary,  was 
defcended  of  the  nobleft  race  among  them,  the  race  of  David,  the 
King,  v^ho,  with  the  reft  of  his  countr^^men,  was  defcended  of  Ab- 
raham, to  whom  it  was  promifed,  That  in  him  Jljotdd  all  families 
of  the  earth  be  bleJftd-'\  It  was  alfo  fit,  that  the  dodrine  of  Jefus 
fhould  be  firft  promulgated  among  the  Jews,  who  believed  in  the 
one  God,  from  whom  it  came  ;  nor  do  I  think,  that,  in  any  other 
nation,  our  Saviour  could  have  found  difciples  to  propagate  his  doc- 
trine, firft  among  the  Jews,  and  then  among  the  Gentiles. 

As  our  Saviour  faid  that  he  was  the  Son  of  God,  miracles  were 
neceffary  to  fupport  his  high  title,  and  give  credit  to  his  miflion  • 
and,  accordingly,  he  wrought  many  miracles,  and  in  the  view  of 
all  the  people,  and  which  were  all  works  of  benificence,  fhowing 
divine  goodnefs,  as  well  as  divine  power.  And  he  concluded  them 
all  by  raifing  himfelf  from  the  dead,  after  he  had  been  crucified  by 
the  Jews,  contrary  to  the  inclination,  as  appeared,  of  the  Roman 
governor,  Pontius  Pilate ;  but  he,  in  this,  fubmitted  to  the  will  of 
the  Jews,  who  could  not  bear  any  other  rehgion  than  that  of  Mofes. 
After  his  death  and  refurredion,  his  difciples,  who  had  alfo  the 
power  of  working  miracles  beftowed  upon  them,  and  had  a  very 
great  miracle  exhibited  in  their  own  perfons,  I  mean  the  gift  of 
tongues,  which  was  neceflary  to  propagate  their  religion  among 
the  Gentiles,  laboured  very  much  in  their  calling,  and  were  very 
fuccefsful  in  making  converts  among  the  Gentiles,  much  more  fuc- 
cefsful  than  among  their  own  countrymen,  who,  as  I  have  obferv- 

*  Genefis,  chap.  12.  v.  3. 


400  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.         Book  III. 

ed,  did  all  they  could  to  ftop  their  progrefs.  But  befides  the  mira- 
cles they  wrought,  and  their  gift  of  tongues,  they  were  affifted  by 
the  Holy  Spirit,  which  animated  them,  and  fome  of  their  converts, 
and  made  them  go  on  fo  fuccefsfully,  that,  in  not  very  many  years, 
a  confiderable  part  of  Greece  and  Italy  was  converted  to  Chriftianity. 

As  to  the  general  ftate  of  religion  of  this  earth  at  prefent,  I  have 
already  obferved',  that   Chriftianity  is   the   religion   of  Europe ;  for 
even  where  the  Turks  are  the  Sovereigns,  the   Chriftian   religion   is 
prevalent.     It  alfo  prevails  in  feveral  parts  of  Afia,  and   even  in 
Egypt,  particularly  in  the  country  about  Alexandria,  where  they  have 
a   Patriarch;  and   have  joined  together  Judaifm  and  Chriftianity  in 
one   remarkable   particular,  the   obferving    both   the   Chriftian   and 
Jewilh  Sabbaths.      In  the  weftern  parts  of  Alia,  Mahomedifm  is  the 
prevailing  religion  ;  and  in-the  eaftern  parts,  fuch   as   India,  China, 
and  Japan,  the  popular  religion  of  Egypt,  which  was  brought  to  In- 
dia by  Ofiris,  is  predominant.      Into  India,  it  appears,  that  the  Egyp- 
tians imported  their  philofophy,  as  well  as  their  popular  religion  j  for 
among  the  Bramins  of  India  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  is  an  article 
of  faith*.    Of  the  nations  of  Africa  we  know  fo  little,  that  we  cannot 
fay  what  their  religion  is.     And  I  have  only  been  informed  by  a  ne- 
gro, who  is  emancipated,  and  has  embraced  the  Chriftian  religion, 
and  whom  I  had  an  opportunity  of  feeing  in  Edinburgh,  that,  in  his 
nation,  they  pradice   circumcilion  ;  and  aUb,  that  they  performed 
an  operation  upon  the  women,  which  is  called  in  Greek   ixri^vziv^ 
and  which  was  only  pradifed  in  Egypt,  but  not  in  Judea.     So  it 
appears,  that  this  nation  of  negroes  learned  the  pradice  of  circum- 
cifion  from  the  Egyptians.     As  to  the  New  World  on  the  other  fide 
of  the   Atlantic,  all  we  know  with  any  certainty  of  the  religion  of 
the  inhabitants  there,  is,  that  the  nations  of  North  America  have  got 
the  knowledge,  as  I  have  elfewhere  obferved  f,  of  one  Superior  Be- 
ing, 

*  Page  292.  I  Page  153.  and  368. 


hap.  VI.       A  N  T I  E  N  T  M  E  T  A  P  H  Y  S I C  S.  461 


ing,  whom  they  call  the  Great  Spirit,  and  in  whofe  name  they  make 
their  treaties. 

And  this  may  fuffice  for  the  hiftory  of  Religion,  of  which,  I  think,  I 
have  faid  as  much  as  was  proper  in  a  work  of  this  kind.  1  have  aUb 
given  the  hiftory  of  Arts  and  Sciences,  and  likewife  of  Government; 
which,  together  with  Religion,  comprehend  what  I  call  the  Hiftory  of 
Man,  at  lead  in  the  ftate  of  civil  fociety  :  For,  as  intelligence  is  of 
the  effence  of  man,  and  that  which  diilingulllies  him  from  other 
animals  on  this  earth,  1  confider  his  hiftory  to  be  that  of  the  opera- 
tions of  his  intelledual  faculty,  which  are  all  guided  and  direded  by 
the  three  things  I  have  mentioned,  arts  and  fciences,  government  and 
religion ;  as  it  is  by  thefe  that  his  chara£ler,  fentiments,  manners, 
cuftoms,  and  inftitutions,  are  produced.  As  to  the  various  events 
that  have  happened  in  the  feveral  nations  of  this  earth,  fuch  as  wars, 
conquefts,  migrations  of  nations,  and  revolutions  of  government, 
they  are  the  fubje(fl  of  what  is  commonly  called  Hiftory ;  but  they 
are  no  part  of  what  I  call  the  Hiftory  of  Man:  Nor,  indeed,  do 
I  pay  much  regard  to  them  in  reading  the  hiftories  of  particular  na- 
tions, except  in  fo  far  as  they  fhow  the  charadlers  of  men;  for, 
otherwife  confidered,  they  are  things  which  might  have  happened 
or  not  happened,  and  therefore  cannot  be  the  fubjed  of  any  fcience. 

And  here  I  conclude  this  volume  of  Metaphyfics,  which,  though  it 
has  run  out  to  a  great  length,  much  greater  than  I  expedled,  does  not 
finilh  the  hiftory  of  Man.  For  I  have  a  great  deal  to  add  upon  the 
natural  life  of  man,  which  neceffarily  preceded  his  life  of  civility 
and  arts  :  Then  I  am  to  fhow  the  difference  betwixt  thefe  two  lives, 
and  all  the  evils  which  arife  from  the  civilifed  life  :  And  this  will  na- 
turally lead  me  to  that  great  queftion  of  Metaphyfics,  with  which  I 
propofe  to  conclude  this  work,  concerning  the  origin  of  evil  in  this 
ftate  of  man,  and  how  it  is  to  be  reconciled  with  the  wifdom  ard 

Vol.  IV.  3  E  goodnefs 


4oa  ANTIENT  METAPHYSICS.        Book  111. 

goodnefs  of  God.  And,  In  that  part  of  the  work,  I  hope,  I  (hall 
be  able  to  (how,  that  all  thofe  evils  are  abfolutely  neceflary,  unlefs 
the  order  of  nature,  and  the  whole  fyftem  of  man,  had  been  altered; 
but,  that  the  providence  of  God  has  fo  ordered  matters,  that  good 
fhould  arife  out  of  evil,  which  is  the  greateft  work  of  wifdom;  fo 
that  man,  after  all  his  fufferings  in  this  life,  or  in  another,  fhall  at 
laft  enjoy  all  the  happinefs  of  which  his  nature  is  capable.  And  thus, 
I  hope, 

I  may  aflert  eternal  Providence, 
And  juftify  the  ways  of  God  to  men. 

Milton's  Par.  Lojl. 


A  P  P  E  Nr- 


APPENDIX. 

[See  page  3.}..  of  tlils  Volume.] 

P^RTS,  Friday,  22th  March  1765. 
**  npHIS  day  faw  and  converfed  with  Madcmoifelle  le  Blanc  (fother 
A    called  her).  —  Says  that  flie  remembers  the  country,  fhe  came 
from,  is  a  very  cold  country,  covered  wi'Ji  fucw  a  great  part  ofthe  year 
and  the  nights  very  long.  That  the  children  t  lere  are  accullomedto  .he 
water  from  the  moment  of  their  birth— that  they  learn  to  fwim  as  foon 
as  they  can  walk ;  and  alfo  to  climb  trees — and  that  a  child  of  a  year 
old,  there,  will  climb  up  a  tree.     That  they  live  in  little  huts  above 
the  water  Ulce  Beavers ;  and  that  they  fubfift  very  much  by  tiihing. 
That  flie  was  fo  much  in  the  ufe  ofthe  water,  that,  wixn  fhe  came 
to  France,  fhe  could  not  live  without  it ;  and,  at  iirft,  was  in  ufe  to 
plunge  into  it  over  head  and  ears,  and  to  dwell  in  it  like  an   Otter 
or  any  other  amphibious  animal;  and  afterwards,   when  fhe  was  re- 
ftrained  from  that,  fhe  always  wafhed  her  head  and  hands.     That 
though  file  fuppofes  fhe  was  a  child  only  about  feven  or  eight  years 
of  age  when  fhe  was  carried  away,  yet,  by  that  time,  flie  had  learn- 
ed to  fwim,  to  fifh,  to  fhoot  with  the  bow  and  arrow,  to  climb   and 
to  leap  from  one  tree  to  another   like  a  fquirrel.     That  the  people 
of  her  countr}'  had  no  clothing  but  flcins,  and  had  no  ufe  of  fire  at 
all:  So  that,  when  fhe  came  to  France,  fire  was  her  abhoirence-  and 
flie  could  not  even  bear  the  clofe  air  of  a  room,  nor  the   breati.s  of 
people  that  were  near  her.     That  there  were  another  fort  of  men  in 
her  country,  who  were  bigger  and  ftronger  men   than   her  peorle, 
and  all  covered  with  hair ;  and  that  thefe  people  were   at   war  with 
her  people,  and  ufed  to   eat   them   when  they  could  catch  them. 
That  fhe  had,  when  fhe  was  catched,  in  a  pouch  by  her  fide,  a  club 
with  fome  charadters  upon  it,  which  exprcffed  her  name,  and  the 

3^2  perfons 


404 


APPENDIX. 


^■perfons  to  whom  fhe  belonged  ;  and  this  ckib  is  in  the  pofleflion  of 
the/be'irs  of  the  Comte  d'Epinoy.     That,  young  as  fhe  was,  fhe  had 

,  the  knowledge  of  feveral  plants  and  roots,  which  were  good  for  the 
ftomach  and  head,  and  could  cure  wounds;  and  that  fhe  fed  upon 
certain  roots,  which  fhe  dug  out  of  the  ground  with  her'  fingers,  and 
particularly  with  her  thumb,  which,  by  that  means,  was  broader  and 
larger  th^an  the  thumbs  of  the  people  of  this  country;  and  when  (he 
^  leapt  from  one  branch  of  a  tree  to  another,  Ihe  ufed  to  hold  by  her 
thumbs,  4nd  pitch  heri'elf  upon  them  as  well  as  upon  her  feet.  That 
Ihe  could  riot  bear  to  lie  upon  any  thing  that  was  foft ;  and  that,  at 
hru,  wlien  fhe  came  to  France,  fhe  ufed  a  flone  by  way  of  pillow. 

.Tnat  when  fhe  was  taken  from  her  own  country,  fhe  was  at  lea  in  a 
little  round  canoe,  which  children  ule  in  that  coimtry.  in  this  canoe 
fhe  was  fet,  and  clofe  fhut  in  with  fome  kind  of  covering  that  drew 
clofe  about  her ;  and,  when  the  waves  came,  fhe  ducked,  and  let 
them  oafs  over  her.  That  fhe  was  taken  and  carried  to  fome  diflant 
and  warm  country,  where  fhe  was  fold  for  a  flave ;  that  fhe  was  re-em- 
barked with  her  mafter  to  come  to  this  part  of  the  world.  That  her 
mafler  wanted  to  make  her  work  with  the  needle,  at  a  fort  of  work 
which  obliged  her  to  crouch  and  look  up ;  and  that  he  beat  her 
when  fhe  would  not  work;  but  that  her  miflrefs,  who,  fhe  believes, 
fpoke  French,  was  very  kind  to  her,  and  would  hide  her  when  her 
raafler  was  feeking  her  to  make  her  work.  That  the  ill  ufage  of 
her  mafter  made  her  fo  furious,  that  they  were  obliged  to  chain  her, 
and  confine  her  to  the  hold,  where  fhe  made  acquaintance  with  a 
negro  girl  older  than  herfelf.  That,  when  they  came  upon  the  coaft 
fomewhere  in  Europe,  the  fhip  being  in  diflrefs,  the  crew  took  to 
the  boat,  and  fhe,  together  with  the  negro  girl,  were  thrown  into 
the  fea  to  fhift  for  themfelves;  and  they  fwam  afhore,  fhe  aflifling 
the  negro  girl,  who  could  not  fwim  fo  well,  and  who  was  kept  a- 
bove  water  by  taking  hold,  of  her  foot.  That,  after  flie  was  fold  as 
a  flave,  fhe  was  painted  all  over  black,  except  her  feet,  whicli  ftill 

remaiaed; 


APPENDIX. 


405 


remained  white;  but  the  negro  was  black  all  over.  That  fhe  could 
have  imitated  the  llnging  of  any  bird,  and  that  imitation  was  the 
only  kind  of  mufic  known  in  her  couritry.  That. any  kind  of  vic- 
tuals prepared  with  fire  dilagreed  with  her  extremely;  and  fhe  te- 
members  particularly,  that  foon  after  (he  was  catched  in  Champagne, 
obferving  a  woman  feeding  a  child  with  warm  milk,  flie  held  up 
her  mouth  and  got  a  little  of  it,  which  affected  her  fo  much,  that 
fhe  lay  as  dead  for  fome  time.  That  any  flefh  fhe  ate,  that  was  !ei- 
ther  falted,  or  prepared  with  fire,  did  not  digeft  with  her,  but  turned 
into  bile,  by  which  fhe  was  reduced  to  the  laft  extremity  :  And  the 
phylicians,  in  o.der  to  change  her  habit,  and  put  French  blood  into 
her  veins,  blooded  her,  till  the  blood  ftopt  of  itielf;  by  which  means, 
and  by  her  change  of.  diet  and  manner  of  life,  her  health  is  quite 
impaired,  lb  that  fhe  cannot  now  perform  any  of  thofe  wonderful 
feats   of  agility  and   flrength,  which  fhe  formerly  performed;.^  and 

fhe  cannot  even  utter  thofe  ihriU  cries,, ^which  ufed  to  alarm  people 

--         -         ''  '     .'.  ,  :     ',-.1  1. 1'Hrj- 

fo  much  formerly,  bhe  fays,  that  when  fhe  was  taken  in  her  own 
country,  fhcr  had  only  the  little  bludgeon  above  mentioned  :.  But  in 
the  country  fhe  was  carried  to,  before  fhe  came  to  Europe,  fhe  got 
a  longer  flick,  with  three  pieces  of  iron  at  the  end  of  it^  one  i[n  the 
middle  fharp  and  unni\{fd^^if^Xi^jM^  other  two^  each  on  the  fide  of  it, 
hooked;  and  the  .uji^  jL^xi'iP^iSiPli-^^ny^-^  ft^b  any  wuld  beaft,  that 
attacked  her,  V?ith  t|^.4^axj^p^i,nt,  ami  with  thq  hooks  to  catch  the 
branches  of  tr'^-,^,  iii/Ovtl^r  ip^hjll Ju;3;4n  climbing;  and  fhe  faid  it 
•was  particularly  uiciul  to  her  in  detending  her  againft  the  bears, 
when  they  attesnpted  to,  foil Ojs^  .her  up^|t^i^j  ti-c^p^  ,  ^fie.  fays  that  flie 
xemembers  the  cullom.  of  funerals, iiji  her  country;  that  3ie  defundt 
is  carried  to  a  place  where  there  is  a,  great,  deal,  of  fnow,  where  he 
is  fet  upon. his  breech,  ifi  a  fort  of  ^itle;^  jipt  unljk©  ar^  eafy  cJiair^ 
That  bis  relations  approach  him  with  imany  i!eyer^;i;ce&.,^nd  proftra- 
tions,  and  the  neareft  relation  makes  a,,fp^ec|i,.,tq,,jih|]njL|^^wjiich  flie 
repeats  in  her,  own  language,  importing  that  Jie  h^  eyes,,   ears, 

handvS 


4o6  APPENDIX, 

hands,  arms,  &c.  yet  is  no  more,  but  is  gone  above  to  tbe  mofl: 
liigh;  and  then  the  ceremony  is  concluded  with  what  fhe  calls  «« 
cri  dt  triftejfe^  which  is  a  cry  that  they  alfo  ufe  upon  occafion  of  any 
danger  or  diftrefs,  and  which  fhe  remembers  to  have  ufed  upon  a 
particular  occafion  to  the  terror  and  aftonifhment  of  rhe  whole  neio;h- 
bourhood.  Befides  this  fervice  of  the  dead,  (he  has  preferved  feve- 
ral  words  and  phrafes  of  her  language,  particularly  the  name  of  a  lit- 
tle bludgeon,  which  is  Boutou*i  and  her  longer  ftick,  with  the  iron 
upon  it,  fhe  calls  Triblee^  which  is  probably  a  word  of  the  country 
where  flie  got  it.  The  phrafe  for  wounding  one,  is  to  make  him  redy 
and  for  killing,  to  make  him  fteep  long ;  and,  by  way  of  falutation, 
they  fay,  I  fee  you.  It  appears  that  fhe  muft  have  been  fome  con- 
fiderable  time  in  the  country  where  fhe  was  firft  landed,  afrer  fhe 
was  taken  from  her  own  country;  for  fhe  fays,  in  that  country,  fhe 
got  her  Tribiee^  and  learned  the  ufe  of  it ;  and  fhe  remembers  very 
well,  that  fhe  was  a  long  time  in  the  pofTeffion  of  a  man  who  want- 
ed to  make  her  work  and,  on  that  account,  as  fhe  faid  before,  beat 
her  and  treated  her  very  ill ;  and  fhe  remembers  ver^^  well,  that  his 
wife  was  a  handfome  tall  woman,  who  was  very  kind  to  her,  and 
ufcd  to  hide  her,  when  her  hufband  was  feeking  her  to  make  her 
work.  And  it  was,  no  doubt,  with  a  view  to  fell  her  as  a  negro  flave 
that  they  painted  her  black.  That  the  female  negro,  that  fhe  had 
with  her  in  the  woods  of  Champagne,  fhe  firfl  became  acquainted  with 
aboard  the  ihip  ;  that  the  negrefs  could  not  fwim  very  well,  but  ihe 
helped  her.  The  negrels  did  not  fpeak  the  language  of  Mademoifelle 
le  Blanc's  country,  but  had  fome  words  of  French,  a.id  beiidej.  ieemed 

to 

•  This  is  a  wor  J  of  the  Caribbee  language,  mentioned  by  Sieur  la  Beaud  in  his  ac- 
count of  the  Caribbees,  who  has  defcnbcJ  this  weapon,  and  particularly  taken  notice 
of  fome  gravings  upon  it,  by  way  of  ornament,  filled  up  with  painting.  Of  thiS  grav- 
ing, upon  her  Biutou,  this  girl  fpoke  much  ;  fo  that,  I  th  iik,  there  can  be  no  doubt, 
but  that  ihe  got  this  weapon  among  tlv-  Caraibes,  in  one  of  the  Antilles  Ifiands,  wliich 
certainly  v;as  the  warm  country  to  wliich  the  was  brought,  after  Ihe  was  taken  away 
from  her  own. 


APPENDIX. 


407 


to  have  a  language  of  her  own,  of  which  Mad.  le  Blanc  remembers  a 
word,  Broutut^  fignifyhig  bread  ox  fomcthhig  to  eat.  As  to  her  own  lan- 
guage, Mad.  le  Blanc  remembers  hut  verv'  few  words  of  it;  and  what 
fl:ie  repeats,  as  the  language  of  her  country,  is  chiefly  French  words^ 
fpoken  in  the  tone  and  manner  of  her  own  country.  From  which  man- 
ner, it  would  appear,  that  the  language  of  her  country  is  little  better 
than  inarticulate  founds  from  the  throat,  in  the  formation-  of  which 
the  organs  of  the  mouth  have  very  little  (hare.  For  (he  told  me  that 
Ihe  did  not  move  her  tongue  at  all  in  fpeaking,  and  that,  when  fhe 
came  to  France,  ihe  had  no  life  of  her  tongue,  except  in  fwallowino-- 
and  her  mouth  was  much  lefs  than  it  is  at  prefent,  and  almoft  round. 
And  when  {he  laughed,  llie  did  no:  open  her  mouth  as  we  do,  but 
made  a  little  motion,  with  her  upper  :ip,  and  a  noife  in  hex  throat 
by  drawing  her  breath  inwards.  Thp.'  -hen  (he  was  in  the  woods 
with  her  companion,  fhe  converfed    -.  h-  r  by  figns,  and  certain 

cries,  fome  of  which  ihe  remember-^  .  -!  'inicularly  after  they  had 
fwum  the  river  together,  near  to  bfmgi,  fhe  got  firft  out ;  and 
having  catched  filli,  that  ihe  thought  fufficient  for  them  both,  ihe 
gave  a  call  to  the  negrefs  to  come  to  her.  That  after  this  a  quarrel 
happened  bet^vixt  them  about  a  firing  of  beads,  of  which,  a  Gen- 
tleman of  the  name  of  St  Martin,  was  witnefs  ;  the  fame  who  fir- 
ed a  fhot  at  her  in  pailing  the  river,  but  of  which  flie  knew  no- 
thing at  the  time.  That  the  Gentleman,  upon  ieeing  them  come 
out  of  the  water,  and  run  and  leap  in  the  manner  they  did,  v/as  ex- 
ceedingly frightened,  and  fell  fick  of  the  fri2:ht.  That,  after  fhe  had 
knocked  down  her  companion,  and  faw  her  lying  bleeding  upon  the 
ground,  ihe  had  comrailion  upon  her,  and  run,  as  that  Gentleman 
faid,  with  a  velocity  that  is  not  to  be  conceived,  and  catched  a  fro^- 
which  ihe  put  upon  her  companion's  head  that  fhe  had  broke,  and 
tied  it  on  with  fome  threads  that  ihe  made  of  the  bark  of  a  tree. 
That  fhe  thinks  flie  mufl:  have  been  very  young,  not  above  feven  or 
eight  years  of  age,  when  Ihc  was  taken  from  her  own  country,  be- 


caufe 


4o8  APPENDIX. 

caufe  {he  was  put  into  the  little  round  canoe,  into  which  they  put  chil- 
dren, in  order  to  accuftom  them  to  the  fea  :  For  they  are  put  into  it 
with  a  thing  like  a  purfe  that  draws  clofe  about  their  middle,  fo  as  to 
keep  the  water  from  coming  in,  by  which  means  the  water  might 
pafs  over  the  child,  and  the  canoe  might  be  overturned  never  fo  of- 
ten, but  it  could  not  fmk ;  and,  in  this  way,  fhe  fays,  the  children 
were  taught  to  fwiin.  That  iTie  believes  fhe  was  a  confiderable  time 
in  the  country,  to  which  (he  was  firft  carried,  where  Ihe  learned 
the  ufe  of  the  Tribiee^  as  above  mentioned,  and  likewife  to  fhoot 
with  the  bow  and  arrow.  That,  after  fhe  had  efcaped  from  the  lafl 
fhip,  in  which  fhe  was  embarked,  fhe  remembers  that  fhe  palt 
through  great  tradts  of  country  with  her  companion  ;  and  fhe  re- 
members particularly  that  fhe  was  in  one  country,  where  fhe  favvr  a 
great  number  of  people  dancing.  That  fhe  and  her  companion  liv- 
ed upon  roots,  and  upon  what  game  they  could  catch.  That  what 
they  killed,  they  fucked  the  blood  of,  while  it  was  warm,  and  eat 
the  flefli  immediately.  That  fhe  remembers  they  killed  a  fox,  but 
found  the  flelh  very  bad,  fo  that  they  only  fucked  the  blood.  They 
alio  catched  a  hind,  and,  after  having  fucked  the  milk  of  it,  they 
cat  the  flefh." 

As  I  thought  this  Girl,  who  hjfd  been  born  and  bred  a  favage, 
and  could  give  fo  good  an  account  of  that  ftate  by  her  fpeaking  the 
French  language,  the  greateft  curiofity  I  had  ever  feen,  I  had  many 
other  converfations  with  her,  and  learned  feveral  other  particulars 
of  her  manner  of  life,  which  I  have  mentioned  in  other  parts  of  this 
work. 


N        I        S. 


UNIVERSITV  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

Los  Angeles 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


NOV     3 196A 


BpngBgr^ 


i-^. 


MAIN  LO^N  DESK 

)CT  1  3  W 

A.M. 
I    7l8l9!l0111!ia 


lUc 


S'r.>.^«»''« 


f^E^ 


P.M. 

1121 3 1 4(516 


JUL  07 


MAR  2  41972 


5 


R_P^ 


iit-^4^^'^^ 

F?-^  /^,, 


\m 


■|7i  1  :.  121-4)444 


*B 

Monboddo  - 

111 

M74a 

Antient  meta- 
physics 

v.4 

1 

*B 
111 

M74a 
v.4 

f 

t 

3   1158  00734  038^ 


I 


PLEA'^'i:   DO    NOT    REMOVE 
THIS    BOOK  CARDr^ 


University  Research  Library 


D     000  015  9? 


w 


\ii